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.

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