Clare Lowrie and Rachael McGregor are part of a team of volunteers from Woven Earth who loaded household goods into a new home for a family affected by violence before the new tenants arrive from temporary care. They used grant money from Auckland Airport to buy new beds and appliances for the mother and children. Photo / Greg Bowker
Clare Lowrie and Rachael McGregor are part of a team of volunteers from Woven Earth who loaded household goods into a new home for a family affected by violence before the new tenants arrive from temporary care. They used grant money from Auckland Airport to buy new beds and appliances for the mother and children. Photo / Greg Bowker
The Herald is profiling 12 charities awarded $12,000 each from Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas campaign. Each grant is made up of $10,000 from generous travellers who placed unwanted currency into moneyboxes dotted around the terminals in 2023 and as a cherry on top, Auckland Airport has gifted an additional $2000.
As the Woven Earth team started unloading items of furniture off their truck, ready to furnish her new home, a mum who had fled from domestic violence was overcome with tears.
The charity’s founder and chief executive Kerryn Thrupp explains why: “She was expecting to see air beds arrive, but three brand new beds were carried off the truck for her and her two children. The kids started squealing as we also unloaded toys that were on their wish list.”
Tears of joy are a familiar sight to Thrupp and her team when the charity is in action furnishing homes for people who have been displaced by domestic violence.
“They quite often leave with nothing, taking their chance to flee, and spend months in refuge centres. Then, when they finally get a safe place to live, they don’t have anything to move in with,” Thrupp says.
“Woven Earth comes along and turns an empty house into a home, providing furniture and essential household items donated by generous individuals and businesses.
“For children, we try and meet needs that will help them rebuild their daily lives by sourcing items they have had to leave behind such as toys, school uniforms, sports gear and equipment for extracurricular activities.”
Woven Earth has furnished 196 houses and helped 451 lives so far this year.
“I like to talk about it in lives, because it’s every person in the house that we help,” Thrupp says.
Although it works across Auckland, South Auckland represents 30 per cent of the location of families the charity has supported, and demand for the services continues to grow with a big increase in the number of partner agencies it gets referrals from.
Woven Earth is one of the 12 charities being gifted $10,000 for work in South Auckland communities as part of Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas campaign. This is funded by donations from generous travellers who have visited the airport this year and placed their unwanted foreign currency into moneyboxes dotted around the terminals. Auckland Airport has gifted an additional $2000 per grant.
Auckland Airport’s chief corporate services officer Melanie Dooney says the $12,000 grant will be used to set up bedrooms for family violence victims starting over in new homes in South Auckland.
“Donations are down generally. People are stretched and the Auckland floods had an impact too in terms of items available to donate. But beds, in particular, are in short supply for Woven Earth, so the money will help with buying new beds, mattress protectors, sheets and duvets and other items to make the room feel special to who they are,” Dooney says.
Thrupp says having a beautiful bed and bedroom helps to represent a sanctuary and a safe haven from where the families can start the next chapter of their lives.
“Sleep is a critical part of life and if you don’t get a good sleep, it affects how we function as people. These families shouldn’t have to go without something as important as a bed just because they have had the courage to walk away from a bad situation,” she says.
A team of volunteers from Woven Earth load household goods into a new home for a family affected by violence before the new tenants arrive from temporary care. They used grant money from Auckland Airport to buy new beds and appliances for the mother and children. Photo / Greg Bowker
Thrupp has a first-hand perspective of what these families need, having experienced family violence and homelessness with her two children.
“I couldn’t even get a loan to buy a bed. I was lucky enough to have the help of some kind people to piece a home together and furnishing my rental took a long time – we were still sitting on the floor six months later,” she says.
“It’s a really tough road to rebuild from nothing. We frequently hear stories about domestic violence in the media, but we don’t often think about the journey of what it takes for a survivor to recreate and set up a new life.
“But the reality is, if it wasn’t for us, many would go into an empty house. What we do helps ensure moving day isn’t a trauma for them and another sad experience. I want them to feel they matter and have dignity, and to know light at the end of the tunnel.”
Thrupp set up Woven Earth in 2019, with the name chosen to represent interconnection with the community.
“We are all woven together by our journey on Earth, and we all need communities of people, whether it is one, some or many, to survive and thrive and be part of the world again.”
