Women's Refuge seeks donations and a new home

Food, warm clothes, blankets and a new home are on Nelson Women's and Children's Refuge’s winter wish list.

The organisation is currently working out of a property at Florence St in Richmond, but manager Diane Strong says they quickly outgrew the space and are looking to move closer to the city centre before their tenancy ends on July 3.

“We want to be better connected to crucial services for us like the police and ACC. We want to reduce all the transportation time we have while we’re here and reduce the time that a woman has to deal with agencies to get them safe and where they need to be,” says Diane.

Women’s Refuge is New Zealand’s largest nation-wide organisation that supports and helps women and children experiencing family violence.

Diane says it can take upwards of a week to get through the agencies for someone seeking refuge. She hopes moving closer to the city would minimise that time.

“At the moment there's a lot of ‘toing and froing’ and it takes a huge amount of time and resources.”

Diane says they have nowhere to go yet but says their services won’t be interrupted.

“We coped with lockdown so we know we can cope if it comes to it,” she says.

On top of donations and administrative space, the refuge requires donations year-round and coming into winter. Food is the most crucial need for their whānau.

“We need things that are easy to make. A lot of our women aren’t in the mindset to spend hours cooking for their whānau,” says Diane.

Soups, pasta, canned tomatoes, baby formula, baked beans and spaghetti are the sorts of non-perishables sought by the refuge, as well as cleaning products for their safe homes.

Diane says they too often receive donations that can’t be accepted, like rotten car seats and clothing they have to pay to transfer and dispose of themselves.

Other items on the winter wish list include baby seats, warm clothes, and petrol and phone vouchers.

The refuge is also hoping to hear from potential new volunteers to man their 24/7 crisis support line.

“These are the basic essentials they need and that we know will make someone’s life easier,” says Diane.