Wow!  What more can we say about this fabulous event?  The Karinya House team were overjoyed to be nominated as the Charity Partner for the 2021 Allambee Club Art Fair in beautiful Yass!

As well as being surprised, there was a wonderful synergy arising through this partnership from firstly The Allambee Club itself being a place run by women for women and secondly the the staff connections to members of The Allambee Club.

And what an event it turned out to be.  We did have some sense of this as we shared the Art Fair marketing information, kindly provided by Jo-Ann Strong, of The Allambee Club.  Jo is pictured below with Karinya Committee President, Sarah Kelly who attended the Opening Night, along with Karinya Corporate Partner, Christine Waring (Christine Waring Designer Millinery).

The Art Fair itself drew works from over 40 artists from across the Region.  The Opening Night Cocktail Event was supported by over 140 guests.  100% of all proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets, as well as full 25% commission from all artworks sold are being donated to Karinya House to support our May Day Appeal. Latest news indicates the event has raised over $9,000 to be donated to support Karinya House services for women. Simply amazing!

There was an extraordinary amount of time put into planning and running this event.  We thank all the Members of The Allambee Club for their work before, during and after the event.  We also thank all the Artists who contributed artworks.  Five of the artists, have donated the whole sale price of their artworks, not just the commission.  Artists Trish Bennett and Melanie Obst donated artworks as raffle prizes. The Long Track Pantry also donated three hampers as raffle prizes.  Cath Williams, one of our Senior Health Professionals (and a member of The Allambee Club) was privileged to speak of the work of Karinya House at the Opening Night. Cath was also on hand over the weekend to draw the raffle winners with Allambee Club Member, Annie Sims (both pictured below).

One of the artworks being exhibited was actually sold via Instagram just prior to the start of the event, with contact from a woman who was unable to get to the Art Fair. Seeing one of the artworks for sale via Instagram, the purchaser made contact and confirmation of the purchase was duly arranged by DM and Phone! The way of it these days.

The May Day Appeal is our major annual appeal. There are so many things about May for Karinya House…

🤍 May Day – It’s about standing alongside..
🤍 Mother’s Day – and all that may mean…
🤍 International Midwives Day – falls in May
🤍 International Nurses Day – falls in May
🤍 National Families Week and International Families Day occurs in May
🤍 National Volunteer Week occurs in May
🤍 Reconciliation Day is on May 27th
Our May Appeal is a critical part of our community based annual funding aspirations, ensuring annual revenue covers our annual service delivery costs. This appeal goes a long way to setting us on a positive note for the new financial year. Around 30% ($600,000) of our annual operating budget ($2,000,000) comes from donor funds through our community.   Financially things are tougher this year out in the Community, with some donor fatigue understandably evident also. The (unexpected!) contribution of this fundraising event to our May Day Appeal will make a huge difference. The joy of this event and its support and understanding of the services we provide for women, has raised spirits as we struggle with the current critical issue of the lack of  safe and affordable housing options for women (including women with other children) who are ready to exit from their Karinya journey.   At this stage, our appeal has raised $25,311 against a target of $62,000.

Of the 97 artworks on display, around 60 were sold over the weekend.  The Southern Tablelands Art have the full exhibition catalogue on their website and you are still able to purchase any of the artworks that remain available over the coming month.   Enjoy viewing the catalogue in full.  We certainly did!