Charity's van dream comes true

Marlene Bolton says Camellia House has run families all over the city in the same Toyota Hiace for nine years. Photo / Paul Estcourt

All Marlene Bolton wanted for Christmas was a sturdy new van.

Now she has one, thanks to a $10,000 donation from 12 Days of Christmas, a joint initiative by Auckland Airport and the Herald.

Ms Bolton runs Camellia House, a refuge that has been providing emergency accommodation to women and their children from all across the Auckland region for 15 years.

The refuge is the first of a dozen deserving charities to receive a donation, which comes from unwanted currency dropped off by travellers at the airport.

"It really is a Christmas gift to us and our families," said Ms Bolton.

What makes Camellia House different from other refuges is that it takes in families whose members may have disabilities and mental health issues, and staff are trained to deal with these unique problems.

"It can be depressing for anybody coming into a refuge and if they've already had that as a pre-existing condition, there aren't many refuges out there to deal with these conditions."

Families often come to Camellia House with nothing, and the charity does what it can to give women and their children what they need to make their lives easier. It provides support, organises new accommodation and helps with moving. "At the end of the day, they've made the biggest choice of all, which was to come to refuge."

Families stay up to three months in one of the charity's five homes, sometimes longer if there are ongoing court cases.

"For women who are involved with domestic violence it doesn't really matter about the culture - they just band together for the common purpose, which is keep ourselves and our kids safe," Ms Bolton said.

For nine years, Camellia House has used a single Toyota Hiace to pick up donations, carry furniture and families across the city and empty houses.

"I don't know why it hasn't died on us. It's certainly getting on."

Buying a second van will not only make life easier for the mothers, it means staff will be able to take the children for some time-out.

KEEP THE CHANGE

From today until Christmas Eve, the Herald will feature 12 hard-working local charities, which have each been selected for a $10,000 donation from Auckland International Airport Ltd. The winners were chosen by an independent group of advisers for the company, which collected the $120,000 from unused change dropped off by travellers this year.