We are so excited to be chosen as a cause for the 2019 Byron Bay Lighthouse Run.
We will allocate the majority to our ESCAPE FUND which is managed by the Byron Shire integrated Domestic and Family Violence Committee.
Money’s in the escape fund go directly to women and children escaping violence. All monies in the escape fund are fundraised as there is no allocation of brokerage for immediate safety needs or recovery needs within the program so we are 100% reliant on awesome community members and groups to be able to provide this to women and children. This is invaluable to our service delivery for many reasons –
- There are no government provisions or allocated Emergency accommodation providers in the Byron Shire. This means without access to the Escape Fund a women ( and children) would need to leave the shire and go to Ballina Lismore Tweed to access emergency accommodation. This is so disruptive to families who may just need a night or two to regather and find alternate local accommodation.
- If a woman’s name is on the title of a property she is not able to access family law through legal aid. We often use Escape funds to get immediate family law for women. This is a vital part of supporting woman to be empowered to leave the violence.
- Other uses for the monies include – paying for registration, paying for one off trauma counselling or therapeutic sessions if the woman is in trauma and overwhelmed
- Removalist costs
We would also like to set aside a portion of the funds to go toward Barefoot Law – Barefoot Law is a community legal service that was established by a group of local solicitors who wanted to provide quality legal representation to those in the community who otherwise are unable to afford legal representation. The Barefoot Law team have offered pro bono representation for many of the women who have accessed our service and do an amazing job. We would like the opportunity to partner with them to deliver some legal advice clinics.
Lastly we would love the opportunity to provide education and build awareness around Domestic and Family violence.
Visit our website here.
