Our family and relationship care team on the Gold Coast are presented with a collection of beautifully-made soft toys and Christmas ornaments from the ladies of a local craft group
From the Gold Coast to the Sunshine Coast, this Christmas our services are drawing on their close ties to the community to deliver festive cheer where it’s needed most.
On the Gold Coast, our team welcomed ladies from a local craft group for morning tea, who generously donated a collection of beautifully-made soft toys and Christmas ornaments.
The craft group have worked with our family and relationship care team for five years to supply much-needed blankets, cushions and hand-made bags to women and children who are escaping domestic and family violence.
“The women we support through this program are fleeing a violent situation and quite often are forced to leave their homes with nothing,” said Centacare Area Manager Em Crooks.
“One of the first things we do is provide them with a care pack and we rely heavily on the generosity of our donors for this, especially at this time of year.”
Our family and relationship care team on the Gold Coast are presented with a collection of beautifully-made soft toys and Christmas ornaments from the ladies of a local craft group
The team will also work with Friends with Dignity and RizeUp to make sure women living in emergency and crisis accommodation can give their children a gift on Christmas Day.
“We present the gifts to mums along with Christmas paper and gift bags so they have the joy of wrapping it themselves and knowing what’s inside.
“The love and care that the ladies put into these beautiful toys and gifts makes them so special,” said Ms Crooks.
“They also make little cushions that double as bags for children to store their books and toys. It may seem small but these things provide an immense sense of joy and comfort during what is an incredibly stressful time.”
On the Sunshine Coast, the lovely Jill, Anne and Marilyn from Zonta Caloundra visited our Iluka Social and Life Skills Hub for a Christmas morning tea, where they gifted each of our clients with their own 2023 diary.
These diaries play an important role in facilitating communication between clients and their support workers and, for more than 20 years, has been a much loved project for all involved.
Certainly it’s an event that our clients always look forward to, as confirmed by Sheree, who did a wonderful job of presenting the ladies with a special gift to say thank you.
Centacare provides the domestic and family violence mobile support service on the Gold Coast to support women and children to find secure, long term accommodation and connect with services that move them toward a safer future.
If you, or someone you know, is experiencing (or is at risk of experiencing) domestic and family violence, contact your local Centacare domestic and family violence service.
In an emergency, call 000.