Past Events
Experience the Exotic Fundraiser
On 28 March 190 women and men attended a fantastic fundraiser organised by Amy Densem from Westpac; Robyn Galloway from Innovative Travel and Carole Williams from Jane Daniels. What an amazing evening, and all in support women and children living with family violence. World champion triathlete Erin Baker MCed and showed off a great sense of humour while and Mandy Pickering and husband Jason provided live musical entertainment that wowed the audience.
The new winter Jane Daniels fashion collection stole the show, with beautiful styles for winter and lots of lavish colour. That collection was largely inspired by her trip to India as ambassador for The Innovative Travel Company.
The ticket sales and charity auction together raised $20,000 for Christchurch Women's Refuge! And we are very grateful to the kind supporters who gave items for auction, or who discounted services or offered them free. Community spirit is alive and well in Christchurch.
Hurunui Free Family Film Fiesta, 26 June 2011
What a great, fun family afternoon for families in the Hurunui district of North Canterbury! 100 poeple came to join us and be entertained and inspired by Karyn Riley from Riley Parenting; Cate Grace from Leap Fitness and Jax Hamilton, MasterChef runner-up.
‘Despicable Me’ wa s bnit hit, partly thanks to lashings of popcorn, jaffas and Just Juice, Every parent toook home a bag of family-related resouces adn all the kids took home stickers, balloons and other funs stuff.
Special thanks to Just Juice, Springfresh Water and Just Incredible. Hosted by Christchurch Women's Refuge with support from Ministry of Social Development and Jigsaw.
Boxing Day Replay 12 February 2011
Our clothing sale on 12 February was a wonderful success! Thanks to a very gnerous donaiton of clothing and lingerie from UnderCover Wear and help from our wonderful volunteers we raised just over $2100 in total from sales and raffle tickets. This will be used for general expenses, especially those incurred in our displacement from offices and having to relocate twice.
Volunteers and staff together donated a total of over 90 hours in time to make this event happen, but it was a great community event, well supported and popular. A great number of earthquake affected women also redemmed their vouchers for free items of clothing, getting a lift to their spirits that was most welcomed.
Annual Appeal 2010
The Christchurch Women's Refuge Annual Appeal in late July was a great success. First up was Frocktails, a fun night which involved wine, canapés, a silent auction and fashion. The event sold out and raised almost $3,500.
The Street Appeal took place on July 23/24 and exceeded its goal, raising just under $21,000, the most ever raised (so far!) Approximately 170 collectors, ranging from retired people through to school students and many people in between, braved chilly weather to collect at sites throughout Christchurch and Rangiora. Not only was the event a successful fundraiser, but the response from the public for the work Refuge does was tremendous. The Cashel Mall display of 260 pairs of shoes, representing the death toll from family violence 2000 – 2009, literally stopped people in their tracks.
A big thank you to everyone who helped out and of course we thank all the people who so generously donated.
2009 |
Pre 2009Christchurch Women's Refuge 35th Anniversary Celebration |
Fashion Friday Lunch
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Christchurch Women’s Refuge was the fortunate recipient of the last Fashion Friday Lunch for 2009. On Friday 27 November approximately 50 people attended a lunch at Piko Piko restaurant in the Millennium Hotel to enjoy a three-course meal and view fantastic fashion from Freesia, Head Over Heels on High and Saviour. There was also a silent auction to entice a little Christmas spending and a raffle with great prizes up for grabs. The lunch was organised by Sue Reid, who has organised several other lunches for different causes earlier in the year. It was a wonderful break to the day and allowed people the chance to network, relax, perhaps win a prize and show their support Christchurch Womens’ Refuge at the same time. A special thanks to Sue and also Metropol, Spotlight Model Agency, Face Cosmetics and all of the other sponsors and gift donors. |
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Girls Night Out Charity Fundraiser
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On 26 November Christchurch Women's Refuge was lucky enough to once again benefit from a women-only charity fundraiser organised by Denise, Mel and Hillary Bleach and Lisa Barton (L-R at right). These four women have taken it upon themselves to organise this annual event for five years in a row and the success of the event is testament to what happens when people really want to make a difference. Christchurch Women's Refuge benefitted from door and raffle sales and the City Mission received donated gifts. This year proved the most successful ever (so far), with 120 people attending and over $3300 raised to help Refuge. Our thanks go to DB Breweries for supporting Women's Refuge by generously donating the venue for this year's event. The event provided an affordable opportunity to mix and socialise, win some truly amazing prizes and also help out two local charities. Despite a bigger venue than usual the event was still a sell-out. We wish to thank Mel, Denise, Hillary and Lisa who once again organised a fantastic event. Thanks also to all the sponsors and the dozens of donors of the amazing raffle prizes. |
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White Ribbon Ride Helps Raise Awareness
On Sunday 22 November a large group of keen motor bike riders and Christchurch Women's Refuge got together to raise awareness about White Ribbon Day (25 November) with a local White Ribbon Ride into Cathedral Square.
White Ribbon Day is an internationally recognised day when people - men in particular - stand up to acknowledge that violence against women is not OK and that they won’t tolerate or condone it.
To promote the day and help support Christchurch Women’s Refuge, Rolling Thunder Harley Davidson shop put out the call for a local get-together, before South Island riders headed north to join the three-day ‘national’ ride from Wellington to Auckland.
The group of mainly Harley riders braved inclement weather to support Christchurch Womens’ Refuge with their presence and with donations of food. As expected, their presence in the Square encouraged a lot of attention from passers-by, who took the opportunity to check out the bikes and learn more about White Ribbon Day and its importance. Mayoress Joanna Parker (Christchurch Womens’ Refuge’s patron) and local MPs Clayton Cosgrove and Brendon Burns also turned up to show their support.
Refuge Wins Champion Award
Christchurch Women's Refuge won the Champion Medium-Large charity winner at the 2009 awards held 24 September 2009 at the Christchurch Convention Centre. The Charity section was kindly sponsored by AMI Insurance.
This award is an endorsement of the often overlooked work the Refuge undertakes with women, children and youths who have experienced the trauma of domestic violence.
Christchurch Women’s Refuge believes that every one of us deserves the security of a safe home and since 1973 we have helped women and children achieve this.
The staff and Board of Christchurch Women’s Refuge would also like to acknowledge the support they receive from donors, trusts and foundations, businesses and volunteers, without which they could not undertake their important work.
You need only look at the news headlines each week to see how much work there is still to be done. That is Christchurch Women's Refuge works proactively and collaboratively to raise awareness of the extent and effects of family violence in our communities.
Together we can bring about the social change necessary to make domestic violence truly unacceptable in our communities.
Christchurch Women's Refuge 35th Anniversary Celebration
On September 26 2008 Christchurch Women's Refuge celebrated its' 35th anniversary. It was the first Women's Refuge to be established in Christchurch (the first outside the UK, in fact). It was appropriate that this happened in Kate Sheppard's home town, a city that has for over 120 years been at the forefront of Women's rights.
A celebration was held at the Christchurch Art Gallery and included speakers Jenny Harper, Hon Ruth Dyson, Annette Gillespie, and Mayoress Joanna Parker, a charity auction, the announcement of the plans to build a Canterbury Family Violence Prevention Centre and the new Patron of Christchurch Women's Refuge Mayoress Joanna Parker.
Canterbury Family Violence Prevention Centre Plan
The evening was kindly supported by Ballantynes, MORE FM, Team Hutchinson Ford, and The Christchurch Art Gallery.
Night of Fashion
This was a very successful event which had a lot of support from the local community. There were four cat walks with some truly fantastic fashion items as well as static displays that people were able to place bids on. The event was kindly supported by Fashion NZ and Contours.
Other supporters include:
Caroline Church, Deborah Sweeney, Tamsin Cooper, Basquesse, Annah Stretton, Michael Pattinson, Weft, Cotura Fashions, Dual Denim, Stuart McIntyre, Flirt Fashion, Dressupasaurus, Knitworks, Toally Twisted Clothin, Bronny Scott, Elusiv, Long Island, WeSC, Salasai, The People Have Spoken, Anna Steele, Miriam Gibson, Chalky Digits, Lapco, Ruby NZ, Kagi, Oby Ryn, D_luxe, Soko, Charlotte Penman, Sharon Bell, Abracadabra, Andhy Blake from Style Christchurch, Design and Arts College, Canterbury Development Corporation, A&C Lighting, Vid Com, Andre Glynn, Telecom New Zealand, Peek Displays.
A Night of Dreams - Auction and Dinner 2007
A magical 'Night of Dreams' Dinner and Auction. Along with the sponsors of the evening (mentioned below) the funding group members raised nearly $20,000.00 for Christchurch Women's Refuge this year. An added feature this year was the number of specialty items for sale, including four lots of Fashion Clothing.
Many thanks to our 2007 Dinner and Auction sponsors:
Real Journeys, Dual Denim, John Boyd, Crown Limousines, Grande Chancellor, Champs Elysees, Heritage Hotel, Rangiora Eye Care, Tram Restaurant , Canterbury Sightseeing, Mackleys Carriers, Elm Tree, JDV, Channel Publishing, Grassmere Lodge,Tamsin Cooper, Abracadabra, Mike Prendergast, Jason Grieg, Thunder Down Under ,The Flight Simulator, Sterling Property Investments, V Base, Tree Crop Farm Akaroa, Webb Artists, Ray White Real Estate, Alderbrook -Dean Harrison, Bing Dawe, NZ Cricket D & D Chapman Elegance Beauty, Le Bon Boli, Court Theatre, Huntley House, Southern Classic Rentals, Christine Hill, Riccarton Racecourse, Brenics Carriers, Campbell Aero Classics, Patsy Hawke
Art Auction and Dinner 2006
The annual art auction was held at the Crowne Plaza on the 17th October with some magnificant art works on sale featuring mainly local artists, including Jacqui Gibbs, Gary Tricker, Sheena Lassen, Bill Hammond, and Llew Summers. Our speaker for the night, Jenny Harper, Director, Christchurch Art Gallery, spoke on how to choose art, and that the evening was not only one for obtaining wonderful artworks at bargain prices, but a chance to support Women's Refuge, THis set the scene for the evening with the auction raising approximately $38,000 for Christchurch Women's Refuge.
During the dinner that followed Jenny spoke about her experiences in the world of art and about what she intended to bring to the position of Director of the Art Gallery, outlining the past of the gallery and her hopes for its future.
Our thanks go to all those who assisted in making the evening so successful, the fundraising group of Christchurch Women's Refuge, the artists who contributed, our sponsors and those who attended. Without these people the event would not have been so successful.
An Evening with Lauraine Jacobs
On November the 1st "An Evening with Lauraine Jacobs" was held at the Crowne Plaza, to lauch her book "The Confident Cook". Lauraine, longstanding Cusine Magazine food editor, had gathered together her favourite recipes into her first cookbook. The four course dinner was designed by Tony Smith, of the Crowne Plaza, based on recipes from Lauraine's book. A small number of art items were auctioned on the evening with one feature being a song from Yulia Townsend (who attended the evening) being offered as an auction item. $8000 dollars was raised for Christchurch Women's Refuge from this evening.
