Media release – Tuesday 30 July 2024
Contact to match donations to Women’s Refuge Winter Appeal
Contact Energy (Contact) is calling for Kiwis to get behind the Women’s Refuge Safe Night Bed Appeal and is matching donations made this winter.
The fundraising appeal, Safe Night Beds: New Zealand’s most supportive mattress campaign, encourages New Zealanders to donate a Safe Night, at the cost of $20, so Women’s Refuge can continue to provide a safe haven for women and children escaping family violence. A Safe Night provides women and their children with a clean bed, hot meals, secure transport, and support.
To mark the extension of its long-term partnership with Women’s Refuge, Contact will match donations made to the Safe Night Bed appeal up to 1,500 Safe Nights – to the value of $30,000.
In addition, Contact team members are volunteering their time to help Women’s Refuge at an interactive pop-up shop at Brandon Street in Wellington, set up as part of the appeal. The Safe Night Beds shop features six beds where New Zealanders can hear recorded stories from survivors impacted by family violence and details of the support Women’s Refuge offers.
“Our partnership with Women’s Refuge is hugely meaningful to everyone at Contact. This is why we take every opportunity to support their incredible mahi to make a tangible impact in the communities they serve,” says Contact’s CEO Mike Fuge.
“Family violence is a serious issue in New Zealand, which has an impact on us all – whether directly or someone we know – so we have a collective responsibility to support women and children who are affected.”
Contact has supported Women’s Refuge since 2020 but formalised a partnership in July 2022 to help make a more lasting impact. During that time Contact has donated 26,155 Safe Nights and provided Women’s Refuge’s 70 safe houses, refuges and offices with free power and broadband, freeing up funds for refuges to directly support the families they are helping.
“We are so grateful to our partner Contact Energy for this very generous $30,000 donation and for all the ways in which they support our mahi. Whether it is providing free power and broadband to our safe houses; funding innovative research; or helping our clients easily sign up to power and broadband, Contact assists us tremendously in our mission to help those experiencing family violence.” Dr Ang Jury ONZM.
Acknowledging that not all issues can be solved by money, Contact has worked with Women’s Refuge to find solutions for other challenges their clients experience. For instance, some women have poor credit ratings due to family violence which can cause difficulties when they look to set up a new home. To ensure women have access to power as soon as they arrive at a new home, they can become a Contact customer regardless of their credit history.
Women’s Refuge Safe Night Beds pop-up shop is located at 27 Brandon Street, Wellington and is open until Thursday 15 August. Donations to gift a Safe Night can be made directly to Women’s Refuge here.
ENDS
Media enquiries
Lotty Hird, Senior Communications Advisor
M: 027 207 8684
E: lotty.hird@contactenergy.co.nz
About Contact
Contact Energy is one of New Zealand’s largest energy generators and retailers. We have more than 600,000 customer connections with electricity, gas, broadband and mobile plans. We are committed to leading the decarbonisation of New Zealand, and it is our vision to create and contribute to a better place to live; from the homes and communities we live in, to the land and resources that future generations can enjoy.
We are a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Asia-Pacific(DJSI Asia-Pacific), which is a global benchmark for corporate sustainability, and winners of Sustainability Leadership Award at the 2023 Deloitte Top 200 Awards.
Website: contact.co.nz More information can be found in Contact’s 2023 Integrated Report
About Women’s Refuge
Established in 1973, the charity started out by women and children escaping domestic violence staying with other women and children. Today, there are 40 Refuges across the motu from Kaitaia to Invercargill. They provide a wide range of services including help accessing healthcare and counselling, budgeting advice, assisting with protection orders and other legal matters, finding a place to live, funding for children’s activities, and support with basics like food and clothing. Over the years, the charity has played a key role in advocating for changes to the law to protect victims of family violence.
- On average, 50,000 women and children are referred to Women’s Refuge each year.
- On average Women’s Refuge answers 71 crisis calls per day.
- New Zealand has the highest rates of family violence in the OECD.
- 1 in 3 women will experience abuse in their lifetime in Aotearoa.
- Nearly half of all homicides and reported violent crimes are related to family violence.
- Around 67% of family violence episodes go unreported.
Website: https://womensrefuge.org.nz
