August 2014 - Issue 12
Dear Friends, Everyone at Oasis continues to work hard to improve the lives of those living fear of domestic abuse as we celebrate and reflect on 20 years of supporting those in need. In that time our refuge service has been rated ‘Grade A’, we have gained Leading
domestic abuse service
Lights accreditation for our Independent Domestic Violence Advisory service, and we continue to grow our work with children and young people in the local community. At the heart
Oasis Domestic Abuse Service 20 years of experience
of it all are the families we support; it is a privilege to watch them begin
Postcard auction
to recover from the trauma they have suffered and build a safer, happier future. Communicating with our supporters is important to us and we are pleased to announce that our new website is now live at www.oasisdaservice.org. We hope you will find it interesting and informative. Finally, the long-awaited charity shop “The Oasis Shop” will open its doors on Saturday 8th November, helping us to raise additional funds. The women and children we support will continue to be the main beneficiaries
This summer saw Oasis pair up with the Margate Caves Trust to deliver the Margate Harbour Arm Postcard Auction. Artworks by Tracey Emin, Jo Brand and local MP Roger Gale were auctioned alongside local talented artists and raised over £7500 for the two charities to share. All 103 lots were auctioned by local writer/journalist Jane Wenham-Jones, Royal Academy artist, Mark Hampson and founder and chairman of Thorley Taverns, Frank Thorley. The auction also had extra lots from PM David Cameron and local Great British Bake Off contestant Chetna Makan who created a beautiful chocolate cake, a fantastic contribution that made for a fun day for all that came along!
Oasis CEO Deborah Cartwright and Cllr Iris Johnson
of your donations and if you are able to drop off your donations at the shop we would be very grateful although we can continue to collect them from you. Excitingly, the fundraising team will also have our offices at the shop, giving us a public base for the first time. We hope you will pop in to say hello and see the kind of work that we do - we’d love to meet you all!
Great British Bake Off contestant Chetna with her cake
Our thanks to all of you for continuing to support Oasis. The fundraising team
The Fundraising team Tracey Emin “Selfie”
Your Fundraising Efforts Rotary Support The Rotary Club of Thanet held their annual boxing match and donated £10000 to Oasis. We also benefitted from the Thanet Rotary Club’s ‘misdemeanor fines’ from their “Master at Arms” Nigel Osmer. This tongue in cheek venture raised £300 for the president, Neal Elliot, to give to his charity of the year, and we could not be happier to see such a quirky way of fundraising for Oasis.
Loukia from Oasis accepting £10,000 from Thanet Rotary Club
CXK/NCS A very talented group of young people chose Oasis as the beneficiary of their work as part of the National Citizens Service, organised by CXK. Huge congratulations to Carrie Semark and her team, who raised over £400, holding a fun day in Broadstairs as well as a sponsored walk and street collection.
Gadds’ The Montefiore Arms with Gadds’ The Ramsgate Brewery raised £250 for Oasis at the launch of their Green Hop Ale in September. Eddie Gadd said “Domestic abuse is happening all around us everyday – and too often it can’t be seen. I think the work that Oasis does in protecting and supporting some of society’s most vulnerable people is invaluable. At Eddie Gadd at Montefiore Arms launch of The Ramsgate the Green hop ale Brewery, we have supported Oasis for many years. The charity is run by a fantastic team of enthusiastic women, who do a hugely important job, and we feel privileged to be able to help them. I am delighted to continue working with them at The Montefiore Arms.” The pub will hold a Christmas pub quiz Wednesday 17th December. If you would like to pit your wits against Team Oasis (we love a quiz!), tickets are £3 and teams of 4 are welcome. To purchase a ticket visit The Montefiore Arms or email fundraise@oasisdaservice.org.
Swimathon
CXK team at Westwood Cross dressing up and collecting for Oasis
Charity of the year Mentmore House are continuing their support for Oasis, having raised £370.42 so far with their coffee mornings. A coffee morning is a brilliant way to bring a community together and raise funds. If you would like to run a coffee morning for Oasis or nominate us as your charity of choice please contact fundraise@oasisdaservice.org.
The Rotary Club of Margate held their annual swimathon at Hartsdown Leisure Centre in October, and named Oasis as one of their charities to benefit from their 50/50 sponsored swim. Two teams took part in the swim raising vital funds for Oasis, including The Walpole Bay Bathing Club. The teams together raised over £1000. Our thanks go to all who took part and to Rotary for organising such a successful event year after year.
Did you know?
70% of our clients are children
Can you help Oasis? The essentials The Oasis Shop is in need of volunteers, if you would like to volunteer, please fill our volunteer application form online at www.oasisdaservice.org, email admin@oasisdaservice.org or visit us in store to find out more.
Janet’s story * I started my relationship with my perpetrator when I was 15 years old and the relationship lasted around 5 years. It started off good and I soon fell pregnant with our son. He was great through the pregnancy at the early stages, but then he seemed more annoyed towards the end of it. After our son was born things got worse as social services said I was too dependent on my partner as I was so young, at the time I didn’t see this as a bad thing as he was my partner I should be able to depend on him. A couple of years passed and we argued a lot, things were broken and I was scared and alone. I would still see my family but not often as every time I did it would end in an argument with my partner. After countless arguments I decided it wasn’t healthy for me to be there with our son and I decided to leave. Two months later I told him I was going to my mums and I would see him later. Unfortunately he noticed I had more bags than normal and he followed me and confronted me in the street following me all the way to my mums. After almost an hour of walking and arguing he agreed to let me have a break, telling me not to take too long doing it as he expected me home within the week. During that week he came to my mums house multiple times a day constantly ringing and texting my phone, trying to get me to come home earlier promising me he had changed and would get help with his anger. I knew I had to go. So I went to the local council who put me in touch with a refuge who got me a bed that night the next day was moved out to another refuge before being moved again and then in July I was moved to Oasis. I moved to Oasis where I was given a safe room to sleep in, 24 hour support and help with outside services such as school, council, jobcentre and social services I stayed at the refuge for 8 weeks until I was rehoused. After moving into my flat I was given outreach support by Oasis, and was invited back to weekly meetings. I knew if I had a problem I could pick up the phone even if I just needed to talk to someone. I think it’s an understatement to say Oasis helped me, I think they gave me back my life. Now it’s 7years on and I’m happily married, my son is
growing very fast and life is good. I have hope for the future and I know if I ever need help that the staff at Oasis will be there. I can’t even imagine what my life would be like without Oasis’s help but I don’t think I would be alive to tell this story... *name changed to protect the identity of our client
Oasis In The News Love Shouldn’t Hurt Love Shouldn’t Hurt videos with East Kent College actors at East Kent College… Our Children and Young People’s team have been working with East Kent College and local teen actors to create a series of videos. These will be used in our Love Shouldn’t Hurt campaign in schools and with young people to generate discussion of the different types of abuse that can be found in relationships and specifically the pressures that young people experience in their day to day lives. Our mentors spent the day discussing and exploring the concepts behind domestic abuse with the actors, and the actors created scripts for scenarios of issues faced by young people.
actors at East Kent College after taking part in the Love Shouldn’t Hurt film set
These videos can be found by visiting the Oasis website and clicking: If you would like up to date information about Oasis fundraising events, please visit ourr w website e eb www.oasisdaservice.org or join us on facebook Follow us on twitter @OasisDAService
Did you know? When Oasis first started 20 years ago we supported 90 people, now we support over 2000 clients that have experience domestic abuse both in our refuge and the East Kent community. If you would prefer to receive this newsletter via email please email fundraise@oasisdaservice.org or text 07889719912 with your details
Forthcoming Events Christmas Collections Oasis will be working hard over Christmas to raise funds to put on our Christmas party and celebrations with residents. We will be holding Christmas collections at Tesco Broadstairs and will be putting up our collection locations and times on our website. If you would like to help, please email fundraise@oasisdaservice.org and if you see us please do come over to say hello! If you would like to buy Oasis a gift rather than donating funds you can make sure you give something we truly need by visiting our Amazon wishlist. Simply go to www.amazon.co.uk, select ‘Find Wish List’ and search for Oasis Domestic Abuse Service. Items are then delivered to a volunteer who will bring them into Oasis.
If you have any queries about this donation form please contact us at:
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women The Oasis AGM on Tuesday 25th November marks International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This is a chance for us to showcase our work and you are all welcome to join us. Some of the women currently living in the refuge are making a quilt made with fabric and sewing machines that have been donated, and hope to show their quilt here. .The AGM will take place at the Foyle Rooms, Turner Contemporary, Margate at 10.15 for a 10.45 start, running in conjunction with our exhibition at Resort studios.
Resort Studios Exhibition Oasis support group have joined forces with artists at Resort Studios to hold an exhibition that will open November 25 for the whole week. You are welcome to come along and interact with the art work and installations our group have created. Artist Rachel Taylor, a sculptor designer, and Dan Chilcot, a passionate knitter who ran knitting workshops at the summer of colour celebrations at the Turner, helped our group create some truly expressive work of all the emotions and experiences that they have felt in their journey. Come to Resort from the 25th November to see what they have created.
fundraise@oasiswomensrefuge.org or call 01843 290891 domestic abuse service
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Registered charity no.1126198 and as a company in England & Wales no. 05810653 www.oasiswomensrefuge.org
domestic abuse service
PO Box 174, Margate, Kent, CT9 4GA * www.oasisdaservice.org * charity number 1126198