Please join us for High Tea with Friends!

Coming to Newcastle in 2022.

Proudly supporting Domestic and Family Violence Prevention Month (May 2022), join our amazing team of volunteers and special guests for an afternoon of fantastic food, fashion and amazing friends to help us raise critical funding for Friends With Dignity.

Your admission to this fabulous afternoon with Friends includes a glass of bubbles on arrival, a decadent high tea menu, guest speakers, raffles/auction and a whole lot of fun!

Our MC
Mx Matthew Parsons (they/them) is one of Australia's leading experts in LGBTQ experiences of intimate partner violence, regularly publishing, speaking and providing training on the subject. Matthew is also the Producer/Director of My Other Closet the Cabaret, a special collaboration between family violence and performing arts professionals which since 2013 has been empowering one man to tell and sing his own true story in a brave, and deeply affecting theatrical work. Giving powerful insight into all abusive relationships and specifically those of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse people. This production points us to a future where people of all genders and sexualities can live free from violence.

Our Speakers

Ms Pauline Wright - Partner Principal of P J Donnellan & Co Solicitors in Gosford. She is the President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties only the second woman to have had that honour, and has been active particularly in the areas of criminal

Lyndal Gowland from Gowland Legal specialise in helping people in domestic violence situations and also hold awards to acknowledge those that do great work and those that don’t. Lyndal has a Masters in Family Law and she is the Principal Solicitor of Gowland Family Lawyers, which specialises in advocating for women’s rights in the family law jurisdiction.

Suellyn Moore has worked at Newcastle WDVCAS for nearly 6 years, firstly as a Safety Action Meeting Coordinator and then moved into management. During that time , she has seen the service grow into a modern innovative WDVCAS that services Newcastle and Lake Macquarie attending NSW Local Courts and the Newcastle Family Law court.

Tracy Rogers is the Aboriginal Focus worker from NWDVCAS. Her mother’s mum is from the Stolen Generations, she was placed on Groote Eylandt in the 1922 and her mum was raised there. In 2009 Tracy completed her Certificate IV in Community Services and have worked within the Newcastle Community ever since.

ABOUT FRIENDS WITH DIGNITY

Awarded 2018 Australian Charity of the Year, Friends with Dignity is a national not-for profit charity organisation that provides immediate and practical assistance to families and individuals displaced by Domestic and Family Violence.

Built on the foundation that change is effected through community engagement, our programs encourage individuals, groups and organisations to actively initiate change by providing tangible ways in which we can all Step Up, Speak Out and Support.

We are 100% self-funded and run by a dedicated team of passionate volunteers, we do not charge any of the Victims we assist or the Refuges / Supporting Organisations referring their Clients to us; all of our Programs are gifted unconditionally.

In partnership with our Refuge and DV Services network, we create Sanctuaries for people who have escaped domestic violence and are ready to leave refuges.

All of our Sanctuaries are fully furnished with donated goods – some pre-loved and others purchased new by generous donors.

Our primary goal is to create a safe, welcoming home for survivors of domestic violence to rebuild their lives in a sustainable and supported way.

An entrusted Partner to those on the ‘front line’, we work not in competition, but alongside these and other organizations, recognizing that our mutual goal is to reduce domestic and family violence.

LIKE TO SUPPORT THE EVENT?

If you would like to further support this event with sponsorship or donating prizes for the raffle/auction please email events@friendswithdignity.org.au or phone Decinda on 0416 437 941 or Hollie on 0402 569 863