With Christmas and holidays approaching fast, a local support group wants to bring awareness to the fact that this time of year can be incredibly stressful and difficult for many, in particular for people experiencing family violence, grief or financial hardship.
A spokesperson for Women’s Support Motueka says, in the year to June 2023 the service received a total of 449 referrals related to family harm.
“However, the numbers alone do not reflect the true complexity of each case. Women’s Support Motueka continues to support women and their families going through these challenges and more, and for 36 years we have offered crisis intervention, support, counselling, advocacy and therapy.”
The service is a non-profit organisation, supporting local women and their families to be safe, well, and empowered to meet their full potential.
They say planning is the key to helping make Christmas and the holidays easier, especially when there are different family groups involved or when parents of children are separated and there are access issues.
Some of the ways to do this are to:
Think of the children’s well-being. Help them to grow up associating Christmas with memories of love and kindness.
Reflect on what Christmas means to you and stay connected to that instead of getting caught up in the consumerism and hype of it all.
Be kind to yourself. Relax and spend some time in the outdoors, reconnecting yourself with nature.
Spend only what you can afford. Work out what you need to buy
for Christmas and what bills you need to cover and set that money aside.
Discuss social and family arrangements in advance and stick to the agreed plans. Make sure children get to spend quality time with both parents if there is shared custody.
If you are finding the whole idea of Christmas too stressful, talk to a friend or someone else that you can trust.
Go easy on the alcohol. Keep hydrated by drinking equal amounts of water or non-alcoholic drinks.
Take time out if an argument starts to brew. Take a deep breath, walk away and let everyone calm down and if necessary, sober up.
If you have real concerns for your safety or the safety of your children, please contact the police by calling 111.
Women’s Support Motueka would greatly appreciate any contributions from community members who have the means and desire to donate.
“We have clients who would greatly benefit from any gifts/donations you are willing to contribute. Supermarket, petrol, pharmacy and The Warehouse vouchers are particularly helpful.”
You can find ways to donate to the service here or visit Women’s Support Motueka’s office in Community House, which will close at 2pm on Friday, 22 December 2023 and reopen Monday, 8 January 2024.
