Sale proceeds boost plan for shop

Tauranga Women's Refuge is one step closer to meeting the constant struggle for funding after a successful garage sale and plans for a charity second-hand store.

The refuge collected donated items that were surplus to those given straight to families and sold them in their annual monster garage sale on Saturday.

Tauranga Women's Refuge manager Angela Warren-Clark was thrilled on Saturday to see a line at the door at 7am and a "very busy and very successful" sale.

"We grossed $2300, so we did well for a new location and on a wet and stormy day."

It was a constant struggle to find the $10,000 funding per month needed just to pay for the core services they provided, she said.

A monthly power bill in winter would cost the refuge anywhere between $1000 and $1200 to house the women and children in need of help.

The annual garage sale was a big help to maintain the refuge but this year the funds raised would go towards starting up a charity second-hand store.

The refuge hoped to create a constant income through the store, she said, and they were already on the hunt for a site.

"Ideally someone would let us do a three-month trial to see whether it's going to be worthwhile," she said.

In the year up to July 1, Tauranga Women's Refuge took in 162 women and children, received more than 700 crisis calls and had more than 300 community clients, with only four staff, she said.

Winter was a hard time for families needing to stay warm and dry, she said, so the refuge was currently in need of more winter clothes especially for teenage boys about 13 to 14-years-old.

"We couldn't survive without our community's support," she said, with one woman donating $500 on Saturday.

"She said she had just been collecting and saving for us."

To help or donate to the refuge, visit www.taurangawomensrefuge.co.nz/donate-now/