MEDIA

Dr Angela Spinney, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne and Board member of Kara House. Dr Spinney and colleague Dr Farnaz Zirakbash developed this Research Project with the primary aim ‘to assist universal community service providers to identify and respond appropriately to family violence”.

The full Research Project^* is available HERE

Spinney, A. and Zirakbash, F. (January 2017), First to Know, First To Act; Assisting Universal Community Service Providers to identify and respond appropriately to family violence, Wesley Mission Victoria and Swinburne University

This research project explored the best ways for community service providers to identify and respond to women and children who are homeless or at risk of homelessness as a result of family violence, but who do not specifically identify themselves as such to service providers. Many women present at homelessness crisis agencies citing relationship breakdown or financial difficulty, rather than family violence specifically, as a primary cause of their need for support. There is an urgent need to integrate family violence identification and support into crisis and universal service practice frameworks. ‘First to know’ service providers need to better understand the relationship between exposure to family violence and effects on women’s and children’s housing status and their physical, mental, social, emotional and financial wellbeing. Where services fail to initially identify those experiencing family violence, the assessments of client risk and planning for client safety can be inadequate. Clients may not receive the information they need on their legal rights and safe housing options, or be offered the early intervention, support and recovery options that are available.

The research explored the best ways for community service providers to identify and respond to women and children who are homeless or at risk of homelessness as a result of family violence, but who do not specifically identify themselves as such to service providers. Many women present at homelessness crisis agencies citing relationship breakdown or financial difficulty, rather than family violence specifically, as a primary cause of their need for support. There is an urgent need to integrate family violence identification and support into crisis and universal service practice frameworks. ‘First to know’ service providers need to better understand the relationship between exposure to family violence and effects on women’s and children’s housing status and their physical, mental, social, emotional and financial wellbeing. Where services fail to initially identify those experiencing family violence, the assessments of client risk and planning for client safety can be inadequate. Clients may not receive the information they need on their legal rights and safe housing options, or be offered the early intervention, support and recovery options that are available.

The overall project objectives are:

• to understand how community service providers with non-family violence specific services can most effectively identify women and children experiencing family violence, in order to inform appropriate service delivery and support
• to inform the community service sector on program design and practice for ‘first to know’ services, providing effective early intervention responses to women and children

LGBTQ+ people impacted by sexual, domestic and family violence (SDFV) from across Australia will now have access to relevant, culturally appropriate and state-specific information and resources with the national rollout of the digital support hub, Say It Out Loud

Produced by ACON, Australia’s largest sexuality and gender diverse health organisation, Say It Out Loud is an online platform on sexual, domestic and family violence designed specifically for LGBTQ+ people. First launched as a NSW specific site in 2017, the resource received funding from the Department of Social Services in 2019 to be expanded nationwide.

The new national website, being launched today to coincide with the final day of the annual campaign ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’, provides comprehensive and inclusive information for LGBTQ+ communities around the country affected by domestic and family violence and sexual assault. It focuses on building healthy relationships and features tips, assessment tools, safety planning measures, videos, personal stories and other support resources.

Take a look at the Say It Out Loud Hub

Do you work with clients of diverse genders and sexualities who have experienced sexual, domestic or family violence?

As a proud partner, Kara House is responsible for updating the state specific content for Victoria. Kara House will regularly update support service information, content for the What’s On calendar section of Say It Out Loud as well as any major policy and legislation changes and any other community specific information, resources, campaigns and other material and information that could affect LGBTQ+ people experiencing or using abuse.

If you would like to discuss how your organisation and work with LGBTQ+ community members can be promoted please contact: Katie at katie.m@karahouse.org.au or call 9899 5666

Dr. Ilsa Evans, Higher Instance Education Coordinator at Chisholm, Melbourne and member of the Kara House Board writes about the traumatic effects of 2020 on women and how it will continue to reverberate for women for years to come.

The year 2020 began in the midst of a bushfire crisis, before sliding almost seamlessly into a pandemic that necessitated an unprecedented global response. Impacts have been felt on every societal level - macro, meso and micro. Lives lost, economies battered, along with job security, tourism, education, and immigration. With regard to COVID-19, there is no doubt that Australia has weathered the situation comparatively well. Nevertheless, particularly as much of Victoria enters a second period of lockdown, there would be very few people across the nation who have not felt the effects in some way.

However, disaster situations are also a little like icebergs, in that many ramifications are less visible than others. One of these is the gendered nature of both the immediate impacts and the longer-term recovery. Data collated by Women’s Health East (2020) reveal that the women are disproportionately affected. They form the majority of essential workers, and they are also in the lowest paid jobs. At the same time, women are performing far more unpaid labour during lockdown, including the responsibility for education at home. 55% of job losses related to COVID-19 belong to women, while the majority of the casual workers unable to access job-keeper payments are women, and women are depleting their superannuation at a higher rate than men. The mental health impacts of COVID-19 are also gendered, with women experiencing higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress, while the Women’s Mental Health Clinic at the Alfred Hospital has seen a 2800% increase in demand. 

In addition, existing gender inequalities are often exacerbated during a health crisis. Women already provide disproportionate care in both the workplace (70% of workers in the health and social services sectors are women), and at home (globally, women perform 76% of unpaid care work). Early evidence already indicates that women are facing increased financial insecurity. The situation is exacerbated by more time being spent at home due to isolation measures and, for many, the home also now being their workplace (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2020). Yet, simultaneously, evidence has long indicated that, for women, home is the most dangerous place to be (UN Office on Drugs and Crime, 2018).  The bottom line is that one of the most potentially harmful impacts of the pandemic, for women and their children, is a heightened risk of domestic violence. 

Relationship violence increases in the wake of a disaster. For instance, after the Canterbury earthquake, NZ police reported a 53% rise in domestic violence. In the US, studies documented a four-fold increase following two disasters and an astounding 98 per cent increase in physical victimisation of women after Hurricane Katrina. In Australia, research strongly indicates a substantial rise in violence against women in the wake of the Black Saturday bushfires (Parkinson & Zara, 2013) 

Similarly, emerging global data indicates an intensification of violence, particularly domestic violence, against women and girls since the outbreak of COVID-19. UN Women (2020) is calling this a ‘shadow pandemic’, and report that increased cases of domestic violence and demands for emergency shelter have been recorded in Canada, Germany, the UK, and the U.S. Reports of domestic violence in France have increased by 30% during lockdown, while calls to emergency helplines in Singapore recorded a 33% increase.

Within Victoria, a survey of practitioners responding to women experiencing violence during the current pandemic found an increase in both the severity and frequency of violence, as well as an increase in complexity of needs and even, disturbingly, new forms of intimate partner violence (Workplace Gender Equality Agency, 2020). There are over 500 calls being made each week to Victoria Police, a 94% increase to men’s services, and a 50% increase within the Magistrate’s Court (Women’s Health East, 2020).

As detailed by Parkinson & Zara (2013), ‘disaster itself can trigger an increase in the severity of existing violence and violence that is new. In existing situations, women’s preparation and evacuation strategies may be limited by concessions to controlling partners or, more directly, by lack of options… women may have no choice but to rely on abusive partners to keep themselves and their children housed and relatively safe.’ However, this research also highlighted that domestic violence is not recognised as a legitimate issue in the post-disaster reconstruction period. As we continue to wade through the immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its inevitable long-term effects, we must learn from the lessons of the past. 

Returning to the iceberg analogy used earlier, research has long indicated that the statistics on violence against women only represent the tip of the issue. The majority of victim survivors never come to the attention of authorities, or even the service sector. The long-term effects of an abusive relationship reverberate through the lives of those affected, even many years after the relationship itself has ended (Evans, 2007). Yet they live with the impacts in silence. As we manage our response to these unprecedented times, we owe it to them to not do the same.

References:
Evans, I.C. (2007). Battle-scars: Long-term effects of prior domestic violence. Centre for Women’s Studies and Gender Research, Monash University, Clayton.
Parkinson, D. & Zara, C. (2013). The hidden disaster: domestic violence in the aftermath of natural disaster. Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Volume 28 (2).
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (2018). Global Study on Homicide: gender-related killing of women and girls. Vienna.
UN Women (2020). The Shadow Pandemic: Violence Against Women and Girls and COVID-19. Available at: https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/gendered-impact-of-covid-19
Women’s Health East (2020). ‘Towards a Gender Equal Recovery’ COVID-19 Factsheets. Available at: https://whe.org.au/blog/2020/06/towards-a-gender-equal-recovery-covid-19-factsheets/

Workplace Gender Equality Agency (2020). Gendered impact of COVID-19. Available at: https://www.wgea.gov.au/topics/gendered-impact-of-covid-19

Dr Angela Spinney, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne and Board member of Kara House writes about the intersection of domestic and family violence and homelessness.

Family violence is the main driver of homelessness for women and children in Australia. Many women who have experienced it are owners or tenants of a home that they have fled as a result of violence. It is quite extraordinary to think that a woman may be a victim of a crime and become homeless as a consequence while the perpetrator remains living in the property. Yet this is the norm.

For the past 45 plus years the refuge movement has done a terrific job of keeping women safe, but it means that we view the problem of family violence as being solved by removing the victims from their homes. It is too easy to think, "job done, they are safe now". This solution does not acknowledge that for many women and children being forced to leave your home and become homeless is deeply disturbing, and that subsequent substandard housing conditions compound the trauma of the violence.

We know that after fleeing, women and children are generally forced to make a series of moves between temporary accommodations, and that the loss of their home can have devastating and long-term consequences.

Entry into refuge and then transitional accommodation means two moves. Moving to private rental accommodation can lead to many more housing moves over time, as increasing rents force women and their children further from their communities and networks. Public housing makes up only 3 per cent of the housing in Victoria; access to the remainder is dictated by how much you can afford to pay. Research# has found that it would be far more favourable, both in terms of reducing trauma and in terms of cost savings, for as many women as possible to be empowered and enabled to remain safely in their own home with the perpetrator removed.

Choice is important. Some women may no longer feel safe at home, or may be so unhappy there they wish to leave and start afresh. There will also be circumstances when police advise women that they are unable to ensure their safety. However, that is very much the exception. More than twelve years’ experience from Sanctuary schemes in the UK show that many women want to stay in their own home, and it is now the norm there.

Stay-at-home schemes require skilled workers to help women undertake effective risk assessments of their individual situation, assist with the provision of security upgrades to properties, provide ongoing support, and link people with empathetic peers who have had similar experiences.

There are potential barriers; first, a relationship breakdown causes less money to be available for housing. For an owner-occupier with a mortgage, or a private tenant, this decrease in funds could make it impossible to remain in their home. However, enhanced government subsidy payments to meet such shortfalls would generally be less expensive than providing women and their children with homelessness accommodation. While subsidising rent or even mortgage interest payments may seem shocking to some, it is a much more economical and less traumatic solution than processing women through the Australian homelessness service system.

Secondly, it relies upon ensuring that a perpetrator is removed and kept away. This relies in turn upon an appropriate and strongly enforced justice response to family violence. Family violence is not solved by hiding women away, but rather by a perpetrator being assured that there will be serious consequences for his actions. If perpetrators are dealt with strongly enough by the criminal justice system (including imprisonment, with heavy penalties for breaches of exclusion orders) then women can remain safely in their home.

The removal of perpetrators from the family home would be assisted by a greater awareness of the rights available to victims of family violence. Victorian tenancy legislation allows a tenant who has experienced family violence to apply to a tribunal to have their tenancy agreement amended to remove the name of the perpetrator from the tenancy. This ends the perpetrator's tenancy and any rights they had over the tenancy. Residents who are not tenants can apply to have their name added so that they can continue to live in the home with the perpetrator removed. Likewise the Family Violence Protection Act 2008 (Vic) allows anyone who occupies a rental property as their primary residence to change the locks without the landlord's approval and regardless of whether they are named on the tenancy agreement, as long as they have a "reasonable excuse" for doing so.

Crisis accommodation will always be needed as an option, but let us work together to make sure that women who have experienced DFV are increasingly given real choice. I would love to hear your views. aspinney@swin.edu.au

# e.g. National mapping and meta-evaluation outlining key features of effective "safe at home" programs that enhance safety and prevent homelessness for women and their children who have experienced domestic and family violence./ Jan Breckenridge, Donna Chung, Angela Spinney, Carole Zufferey. Sydney : ANROWS, c 2015.

Available to download free of charge from the ANROWS website. www.anrows.org.au

This article is adapted from a piece I wrote for The Guardian newspaper at the time of the RCFV in July 2015 Domestic violence perpetrators deprive victims even of roof overhead,(24 July 2015) Dr Angela Spinney

Field placement has long been an integral part of vocational education and training for those intending to work anywhere across the family violence sector. Dr Ilsa Evans - Member Management Committe

It offers students applied work experience, networking opportunities and a greater understanding of how professionals operate across the sector. It also hones the skills required to effectively facilitate independent learning while providing, crucially, a platform for students to link class-based theory with actual practice. The vital importance of field placement is recognised by both the Australian Council of Community Workers (ACWA) and the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW).

Each year Kara House offers a number of placement positions to students who are undertaking related courses, such as the Diploma of Community Services or the Bachelor of Social Work. The students are allocated to the mentorship of a staff member on a rotating basis, under the auspices of Kara House’s Specialist Senior Family Violence Practitioner Jen. About the program, Jen says “Kara House offers the student an insight into intensive crisis case management and risk assessment and allows the student the opportunity to interact directly with clients impacted by family violence.”

A significant proportion of these students come from Chisholm Institute of TAFE in the south-east, and a mutually beneficial relationship has been built over the past five years. An indication of the programs successs is that all recent students have since gained employment within the broader community services sector, and most within the family violence sector itself. As the most recent placement student, Lea, says “Kara House provided me with the appropriate knowledge, skills and attitude to be able to work within Family Violence.” About to graduate from her diploma Lea is an excellent example of the vital role of student placement.

Fully-supported supervision and the willingness of the staff at Kara House to share their time and knowledge has been the bedrock of the program’s success. In this, they do not just benefit both organisations involved but the sector as a whole.

Family Violence can be a challenging area within which to work and operate, and it is imperative that newly emerging workers have an understanding of the procedures, protocols and practice as well as the values and philosophies of the sector as a whole. Kara House is to be congratulated for playing their part so ably in this regard.
Dr Ilsa Evans is Group Coordinator in the Community Services at Chisholm Insitute

Often the thought of attending Court and facing the perpetrator is a frightening experience, and this is where a Kara House Specialist Family Violence Practitioner can help provide both practical and emotional support to help guide the client through the process.

When meeting with a client for the first time and assessing her risk, the practitioner will discuss the client obtaining a Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO). A FVIO protects a person from a family member who is using violence.

To prepare a client for Court, the practitioner will refer them to a local service for legal advice and then contact the local Magistrate’s Court to book a date for an FVIO application to be submitted. The FVIO application is a complex form and the practitioner assists in ensuring all the details are correct and factual.

On the Court date the practitioner will meet the client at Court and remain with them until the process is completed. There is usually a safe room where the client can wait with the practitioner to ensure they are not intimidated or at risk from the perpetrator.

The practitioner helps to navigate the often complex process, providing information, advocacy and emotional support. The practitioner will explain the Conditions on the Order and the breach procedure, should the perpetrator breach the FVIO.

The practitioner is also available to provide ongoing support if there is a breach or if the client is required to return to Court at a later date.

For victims of family violence, the impact of trauma can make it incredibly difficult to verbalise thoughts. 

Strong feelings of shame, humiliation, guilt and fear around speaking of the abuse can make it even more difficult for them to receive the support and direction they really need.

Women often arrive at Kara House with very little, having fled their home, job, family and community. It is an incredibly isolating and stressful time. Talking about trauma and engaging with trained specialists during the initial crisis is an incredibly important part of their road to recovery.

In 2018, we introduced the Art Therapy Program to help our clients during this time. Each fortnight, clients at the refuge participate in a  two hour session where they are taken through aspecifically designed artistic exercise. The program is facilitated by an accredited Art Therapist and a Kara House Specialist Family Violence Practitioner. 

The art therapy provides an empowering outlet to process feelings and thoughts, by allowing them to express themselves through art rather than verbal language. Clients can make sense of frightful memories and find their way through the chaos and raw emotion of abuse. 

Most importantly, art therapy provides opportunities for discussion and engagement, allowing Kara House to help the women create strategies for a better future for themselves and their children.

Art therapy has been identified as a therapeutic response appropriate for women and children of all ages impacted by the trauma of family violence. We have had great feedback from the participants, and we believe initiatives like the Art Therapy Program greatly improve the long term outcome of the women and children we work with.

Our MOVING ON Family Violence Support Group is for women who have experienced family violence and might be feeling alone, stuck and overwhelmed. Over 6 weeks enjoy relaxation activities like music therapy as well as group discussions and one-on-one chats.

It's a safe place to take time out, make strategies for the future and connect with other women in similar circumstances. The group is facilitated by specialist family violence practitioners who understand your situation and FREE CHILDCARE is available.

FREE CHILDCARE is available to all participants 

Our MOVING ON Family Violence Support Group starts Fberuary 12  and meets Wednesday mornings between 10am and 12pm. We welcome women  of all ages and backgrounds attending. FREE childcare is provided to let you concentrate on your well-being. The group is facilitated by specialist family violence practitioners.

Some of the activities include Music Therapy and facilitated group discussions and one-on-one chats.

The primary aim is family violence education and assistance to help women to develop solutions and strategies to build self-worth and move forward. Beneficial activities are used to relax and improve the well-being while creating opportunies for facilitated group discussions and one-on-one chats.

The group is open individual or referrals from organisations like Women's Services, Housing Services, Family Services, Docorres, Schools etc. Ideally clients shouls attend for all 6 weeks but we are open to them attending one or more sessions.

MOVING ON Family Violence Support Group is an innitiative of Kara House and funded by a private grant and out ongoing donors. In 2019, Kara House ran four MOVING ON groups with great outcomes. We plan to continue the group right through 2020.

To find out more about the group please contact Kara House on 1800 900 520 or admin@karahouse.org.au

On the 16 October, Kara House celebrated 40 years of empowering and supporting women and children escaping family violence. To mark the important occasion we held an evening event at Box Hill Town Hall. On the night, we were delighted to be joined by current and past staff, former Management Committee members, our donors and supporters and well as members of the local community. CR Andrew Davenport Mayor of the City of White horse, Robert Clark MP for Box Hill, CR Tina Liu and CR Bill Bennett all came to lend their support.

Master of Ceremonies, Comedian and Heath Advocate Nelly Thomas kept those attending laughing while beautifully expressing the sentiment and the importance of the work of Kara House. Firstly, the Chair of the Management Committee, Margaret Morrissey welcomed the guests and spoke of the excitement and significance of Kara House turning 40.

The City of Whitehorse has provided Kara House with a significant support over the last year and we were happy to invite CR Andrew Davenport Mayor to speak about their importance of Kara House in the local community and their commitment to the prevention of family violence.

The keynote speaker was Associate Professor Suellen Murray author of the book “From margins to Mainstream: the Domestic Violence Services Movement in Victoria”. As a former member of the management committee, she was able to talk about the history of Kara house then give great insight into the current Family Violence sector.

We were honoured and privileged to have former client Liang* to speak of her time and association with Kara House. She told her painful story and how, with the help of Kara House she was able to achieve a wonderful outcome and is now enjoying a great future.

Next Students from Swinburne University displayed the new website they are redeveloping for Kara House. The website looks amazing and we are looking forward to its release at the end of the year. Finally Veronica Coleman (Kara House Manager) and Catherine Lockstone (Vice Chair) spoke of the future direction and plans for Kara House.

We were delighted that so many supporters, colleagues and the local community were able to join in the celebration!

*Liang – name changed

To mark International Women’s Day on March 8th Kara House attended the Women In Rotary Breakfast with a group of our favourite supporters and advocates. The primary objective of the event is to celebrate women’s achievements on the road to gender equality. A discussion panel of representatives of the media, Alfred Hospital, Police Force and a local school discussed the event topic “Today’s girls – tomorrow’s leaders”.

Those in attendance were Lucy and Alex from Donvale Chiropractic Centre, who year after year gift us toys and clothing at Christmas, and Joy Gibson and Kelly Quirk from Box Hill Institute who have assisted with fundraising in the past year. Dr Angela Spinney and Christine Hayes also attended from Swinburne University who advocate and provide corporate volunteering for Kara House.

They joined our Chairman Margaret Morrissey, members of the Management Committee and Kara House team for breakfast. It was a wonderful chance to catch up on what’s happening at Kara House and thank them for their ongoing support.

The Midsumma Festival is Victoria’s premier LGBTI cultural festival, made for and by communities who live with shared experiences around diverse gender and sexuality. Held annually since 1988 it is the largest celebration of gay and lesbian culture and art; including performing arts to music, sports to film.

The Midsumma Community Day on January 14th kicked off the 3-week festival and Kara House team joined in the fun manning our stall in the community hub. The team handed out gift bags containing pens, badges and wristbands and information brochures. By talking and fielding questions with the community the team was able to spread awareness of family violence within the LGBTI community and the support that Kara House provides to those who are experiencing family violence.

Kara House is a specialist family/domestic violence service which provides crisis accommodation and outreach support for women and children who have been impacted by family/domestic violence. Kara House clients are allocated an individual skilled and experienced family/domestic violence support worker to assist them to identify their needs and to move towards a more positive future. This includes *emotional support *risk assessment and safety planning *advice and information *advocacy *referral *Court support *liaison with schools and child protection. Kara House welcomes all clients – young and aged, with a multicultural background, single, LGBTI, women with disabilities, and women with children. Clients can contact Kara House directly or can be referred from another service.

The streets of Melbourne CBD were transformed into a sea of orange for the annual Walk Against Violence on November 22nd. The team from Kara House joined countless other organisations and individuals who came together to march through the CBD and end in Federation square for speeches and entertainment. The yearly event is one of many events which are part of the “16 Days of Activism”.

The Walk Against Family Violence began in 2009 by a committee of family violence services, local council and Victoria police in the southern region to raise community awareness of family violence and its impact within the community. The purpose of the walk is to break the silence on family violence, and hopefully each year the walk builds that the public is encouraged to stand up against family violence and speak out. Family violence is a problem for all of society and we all have a responsibility to make changes within our own families, workplaces, schools and community’s to be accountable and to no longer ignore the effect of violence against our mothers, sisters and daughters.

Kara House, as a specialist family violence service, contributed a submission to the Royal Commission into Family Violence in Victoria that is currently underway.

Kara House, along with other services in the family violence sector is uniquely placed to provide informed comment to the Royal Commission.

Chaired by the Honourable Marcia Neave AO, formerly Justice of Appeal, Supreme Court of Victoria and with the support of Deputy Commissioner Patricia Faulkner AO and Deputy Commissioner Tony Nicholson, the Royal Commission is charged with inquiring into and reporting on how Victoria’s response to family violence can be improved.   A report with practical recommendations to stop family violence will be presented to government by Monday, 29 February 2016.        .

The Royal Commission has already undertaken reviews of written submissions, community consultations, stakeholder and expert round-tables and gathered research from site visits and data and documentation provide by key agencies.

The Royal Commission is currently in the next phase of holding public hearings to explore the range of ways in which people experience family violence, and the laws, policies, practices and services that have been implemented to respond to and prevent family violence. These hearings began on Monday, 13 July 2015 and will continue through to Friday, 14 August 2015 and will seek to explore competing views about the best way forward.

For more information on The Royal Commission into Family Violence visit:

http://www.rcfv.com.au/.

Thanks to the generosity of the ladies of Box Hill Golf Club, the lives of women and children seeking safety and refuge at Kara House has been made a little more comfortable. In February this year, the Ladies Charity Committee chose Kara House as one of their beneficiaries.  Since that time, we have been fortunate to receive much needed donations of linen, towels and bedding. We now have enough linen, towels and sheets to support our clients throughout 2015 and beyond.

On 13 April, the ladies of Box Hill Golf Club held their annual fundraising day, resulting in funds raised of $5400 for Kara House. We are very grateful for this support, which will go towards supporting women and children so disadvantaged by family violence.

A big thank you to the ladies’ President, Myra Fisher, the Ladies Charity Committee, Box Hill Golf Club and the 112 ladies from 22 golf clubs who supported this fundraising initiative. This cash injection will allow us to undertake much needed maintenance for the house and to enhance our children play room.

Kara House has recently undergone some well-needed upgrades to its children’s play area.  After some wild weather a couple of years back the shade sail covering the play area was lost, leaving no coverage or protection from sun for the children utilising the area.  The ground covering was also hardened after many years of use, and the cubby house needed some repairs.

An upgrade to the area with replacement of the shade sail was identified as a key requirement for the refuge by the Kara House Development Committee in 2014.  Kara House reached out to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Foundation, who kindly volunteered to help raise the money to support the required upgrades.

The play area has now had its new shade sail installed, with the ground covered in soft mulch.  Repairs to the cubby house have also taken place.  The difference has been significant and the residents of the Kara House refuge are greatly appreciative.  Future plans for upgrading the play area include new plants and play equipment.