In his parliamentary speech on Thursday, Paul Fletcher, the Federal Member for Bradfield and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications announced that his recent debate with ex-Wallaby Peter FitzSimons “we have lost that larrikin spirit” has raised over $22,000 for the Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai women’s shelter.
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Following-on from discussions that we had with the Mayor, it would appear that the process of securing and commissioning premises is going to plan,
“The aim is to have the premises secured for this shelter—operating, secured and open for business, if all goes to plan—before the end of this year.”
Paul Fletcher, Australian Federal Parliament. Sep 25th 2014.
Further, Fletcher said in his speech:
“The state-wide organisation Women’s Community Shelters Limited is providing substantial financial and organisational support, and I acknowledge their leader, Annabelle Daniel. I also want to acknowledge the local committee which has been established and is busy raising funds towards both the set-up costs and the ongoing operational costs of the plan Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter. I want to acknowledge, particularly, John Lockyer for his work in leading that important committee. The aim is to have the premises secured for this shelter—operating, secured and open for business, if all goes to plan—before the end of this year. The operating expenses of the shelter will be in the order of several hundred thousand dollars a year. So it is a major exercise to get this established.
One in two women who are homeless or escaping domestic violence are turned away from crisis accommodation every day. The groups who are at particular risk include older single women, migrant women and women with little family support. There is a perception that women on Sydney’s upper North Shore do not face issues such as homelessness or domestic violence but that is, sadly, not true. Today, there is no crisis accommodation to assist homeless women anywhere between Lane Cove and the Central Coast.”
The entire parliamentary speech can be read here.
If you want to play your part in raising funds for this cause, a Gala Ball will be held on the 25th of October this year at the Hornsby RSL club. Run by the local schools; Barker College, Knox Grammar, Abbotsleigh and Pymble Ladies College, the proceeds will go towards the further succession of this facility.
