Not so casual about this cause

From left: Warwick Safe Haven representatives Jeff Ferguson, Julie Kawano, Jenny Eldridge, president Bette Bonney and Pam Burley, at right, with Southern Downs mayor Tracy Dobie.

WARWICK Safe Haven is the latest recipient of the Southern Downs Regional Council staffs’ ‘Casual for a Cause’ initiative.
Southern Downs Regional Council staff have been dressing-down on Fridays to raise money for local not-for-profit organisations, and Warwick Safe Haven was chosen by staff as the recipient for donations collected throughout July.
Southern Downs mayor Tracy Dobie presented Warwick Safe Haven’s president Bette Bonney and committee members Jeff Ferguson, Julie Kawano, Jenny Eldridge, and Pam Burley with a donation of $256, and thanked them for their continued efforts to raise awareness about domestic violence and provide critical support services for those in need.
“Domestic violence is something no person should have to suffer,” she said.
“Warwick Safe Haven and its members play a vital role in raising awareness about domestic violence in our community.
“Importantly they help build capacity in the community so that people have the confidence to stand up and say ‘no to domestic violence’ and to support those who are affected.
“The Southern Downs is very fortunate to have such a dedicated local organisation working to provide support, and foster harmony and safety in our community, and I commend Warwick Safe Haven on their extraordinary and ongoing efforts.”
Warwick Safe Haven partners with the Domestic Violence Action Centre (DVAC) to provide specialist support services, and face-to-face counselling in the Southern Downs. Safe Haven is the sole funding source to DVAC for these services, without which, they would not happen in our region.
Warwick Safe Haven president Bette Bonney thanked the mayor and council staff for the donation.
“We have the great privilege of being able to serve, in a way, right in the front lines, because we provide quarterly donations to the Domestic Violence Action Centre, who now provide face-to-face counselling in Warwick once a month,” she said.
“This is something that’s been on the ‘to do’ list for a long time, and we’re very thankful that this now happens in the Southern Downs.
“The funds enable DVAC to provide safety for their clients. That might be keeping them safe in their homes, making changes for them that gives them a really safe life, a freer life.
“We’ve received cards from clients and messages via the DV counsellor from clients just saying ‘please thank Safe Haven so much, it has made such a difference in our lives’, and it’s amazing the difference that it does make.
“So, thank you to the Southern Downs Regional Council staff for this donation, and please know that this money goes to the clients in our community that really need it.”
Warwick Safe Haven will be hosting domestic violence community awareness workshops in Stanthorpe on 7 November and Warwick on 8 November.
The Australian Red Cross will be the recipient of the Casual for a Cause staff donations collected throughout August.
The council’s ‘Casual for a Cause’ initiative has raised a massive $3569 since it was introduced in August last year.