By BRIDGET SCOTT
THE glamour of the occasion couldn’t hide the dark reality that is family violence when Windermere hosted an awareness-raising cocktail party last week.
In the lead up to November’s White Ribbon campaign, the Casey-based organisation brought together about 50 women for its inaugural Sip In Style function at Mon Bijou Penthouse in Flinders Lane.
The evening was designed to highlight the services offered by Windermere, which is just one of the Casey organisations that are on the front line of helping families aflicted by family violence.
The guest speakers were two women with very different life experiences: international model and jewellery designer Samantha Wills and domestic violence survivor Carla Gagliardi.
Ms Gagliardi lost her home and her job after her former fiance assaulted her leaving her hospitalised.
She and her son are now on the path to a new life thanks to the Windermere’s help and support.
In contast, Samantha Wills shared her story of success building an international jewellery design business.
From humble beginnings at a Sunday market, Ms Will’s designs now adorn the likes of A list celebrities Drew Barrymore, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.
Ms Wills said that as a young adult growing up in Port Macquarie, “she didn’t fathom that you could make a living out of doing something creative”.
As her business grew she found herself booked by friends several nights a week to host jewellery parties.
She would then zip around the area to visit strangers and see if they wanted to purchase her home-made creations – cash only.
After her name become more widely known, Ms Wills quit her retail job and made it her mission to “create a brand that had a story to tell”.
Ms Wills said she was a strong advocate for women’s issues and donated a number of pieces of jewellery as raffle prizes.
Windermere chief executive officer Lynette Buoy said the statistics relating to family violence were startling.
“One person dies every week across Australia as a result of family violence,” she said.
“We feel this is just too much.”
She spoke about a range of Windermere’s early intervention programs and other services available to the victims of domestic violence .
“We are working in schools around gender equity, challenging stereotypes, which happen as a result of being around family violence,” she said.
“We also support kids, provide counselling and more.”
Next week the News launches its 2014 White Ribbon campaign with a moving story on Carla Gagliardi’s brave fight to reclaim her life.
