Roughies Reflections May
- 17 May 2023
- Andrew Keene
 Are you ready for winter? Even though I resisted turning on our heater on at night until recently, I felt the sudden drop in temperature was a shock to my system. I usually sense a gradual change, but not this year! All the more reason to be thinking about the most vulnerable amongst us. We have had a spike in calls for food assistance and referrals to our partner services for help with energy bills. So many people need our help. We will shortly be launching our Winter Appeal. Can I urge you to think about whether you can support it this year? St John’s Community Services relies on the generosity of people like you to keep our doors open. In Winter, we are a place of warmth where people can enjoy a hot meal and a place to relax with their friends. We give out blankets to those who need them and help people find somewhere to stay for the night. Roughies is a place where those who are often looked down upon or ignored by the rest of society can belong. Louise, who has been coming to Rough Edges for 15 years, told us: “At Roughies you feel you belong. Most people who go there are from dysfunctional backgrounds and are homeless and when you’re in that circle you feel comfortable with other people in that situation. And Roughies doesn’t judge, you know, it’s somewhere to go when you’re feeling down and it’s somewhere to go when you’re hungry and somewhere to go when you need somewhere to kick back.”  Gabriel, CEO. Hope & healing for survivors of domestic & family violence  Have you visited the new Banksia Women webiste? Launched in March, it gives a beautiful face to the work that we do. May is Domestic Violence Prevention Month in Australia, and we wanted to share how Banksia Women is part of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. Find out more Be inspired by Kosciuszko’s 3 Peaks Join our Special Guest Hiker, Paul Bramble on the Three Peaks Hike for an extended Urban Walk experience  We are so thrilled that Paul Bramble, one of our Urban Walk Guides, will be joining the team going on the Three Peaks Hike in the Snowy Mountains to raise money for Rough Edges. Join Paul for this unique experience and hear first-hand his incredible story of recovery after years of trauma, mental illness, addiction and homelessness. Three Peaks Challenge We recently held our AGM and our Annual Report was released. It contains reports from each of our programs and is worth reading for those who like to keep up to date on the challenges and achievements we experienced in 2022. Download Annual Report Quick Stats from fellow agencies  Foodbank: 500,000 households struggle to put food on the table every day. Foodbank reaches 300,000+ households but there is a gap in reaching those who need it Foodbank’s ‘Find Food’ searches exceeded 25,000 in February (Five times higher than August 2022) with these numbers directly reflecting increases in interest rates 54% of households needing food relief have someone in paid work and one third of food insecure families have a mortgage Increases in the need for assistance on digital support services such as Ask Izzy: 250,000 searches for help in March alone Over 50% of searches are hardship related – food, material aid, and emergency relief Searches have increased 60% in the last 12 months, coming off an already high base level throughout the pandemic Another story Fundraising concerts Regular Programs and Emergency Contacts Rough Edges Sunday – Friday 7.30-9:30pm CAPP “Daytime Rough Edges” Wednesday and Friday 12-2pm. Banksia Women Survivors Connect Wednesday 11am-1pm. Click here to find out about our other services St John’s Legal Service is open for telephone appointments and in-person appointments on Thursdays. Orange Sky Laundry at Roughies every Friday (11am-1pm) St Vincent’s Health clinic, every Friday night during Roughies Pass it on Clothing, every third Friday of the month Short Back and Sidewalks, free haircuts last Friday of every month, 7:30-9.00pm Donate Donations over $2 are tax-deductible  |
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