For those who don’t know me I am a former warden at St Michaels and currently the auditor of the SHAP accounts.

Somewhat unexpectedly for someone who is an accountant I have, over the course of my career,  faced a number of extremely violent situations.  Fortunately for me I was, in each case, able to escape these situations unhurt.    Sadly, for too many women they do not escape the violence and it is not a one off event but an ongoing situation.   How they can possibly cope with this is beyond my comprehension.

Again, reflecting on my experience, once I was out of the immediate risk there was always a significant body of people and resources available to take the situation from there.  This made the situation much easier to cope with.   In the case of women escaping domestic violence the actual removal from the immediate threat is just the start.  They are then faced with a range of significant problems be it legal, financial, psychological, the list goes on.   This can make things almost overwhelming.

Right on our doorstep at SHAP we have a service based out of St Johns Darlinghurst called Banksia Women which is focussed on assisting women through the mire they are faced with once they escape the immediate threat to their safety.   As a parish SHAP has supported Banksia Women through various fundraisers and we will continue to do so.    If you would like to find out more or make a contribution please go to their website  –  type in Banksia Women Darlinghurst – and you will find the site.

In addition, I am seeking a number of partners to joint us in making a 3 year commitment to supporting the work of Banksia Women.   We are looking for a number of families from each of the local churches who surround Darlinghurst, who can make a slightly larger and longer term commitment to assure them that they have core funding in place to provide the service over the immediate future.  This will not replace general fundraising activity but will give a tremendous level of encouragement to those working to provide this service, knowing that there is a longer term level of local commitment to their work.   If you would be interested in joining us in this, would you please either see me at church over the next few weeks (I will attend services at St Michaels and St Peters) and I can provide you with further information on what we have in mind.