A SAFE shelter from domestic violence in the region is one step closer thanks to a generous donation from a local fishing competition.
The Combined Services Club fishing competition, which is run by the Swan Hill Lions, Swan Hill Rotary and Swan Hill Sunrise Rotary Clubs, was held from March 3 to 5 this year at the Pental Island Caravan Park.
It raised $7000, which this week was donated to the Safe Shelter from Domestic Violence initiative.
Northern Victoria Domestic Violence Housing Group (NVDVHG) chair Arthur Graham told The Guardian that the safe shelter initiative was something that the combined services groups, including Swan Hill and Kerang Rotary Clubs, Inner Wheel, Business and Professional Women and the Lions International Clubs, had been working on for the past 18 months.
“There is no emergency housing in Swan Hill – we use motels and we use caravan parks or we send them to Bendigo or Mildura where they have specific secure facilities,” Mr Graham said.
“So we decided we would try to raise $3 million to put it together.
“Now we are nowhere near $3 million, but we are well on the way with the motions, and we have made people in Swan Hill aware of what the situation is, which is a critical part of it.”
The NVDVHG has so far ran two successful awareness campaigns locally: the Family Violence Walk back in November, and the Back of the Toilet Door poster campaign.
The Family Violence Walk will take place again this year on Saturday November 25.
“The walk gets good publicity and gets people aware of the problem we have,” Mr Graham said.
“We are really trying to get rid of the problem but until we get rid of the problem we need some safe houses.”
