The Welsh Dragon Hosts Wellington Charity Event
For those that are vulnerable in our communities, this time of year can be especially difficult. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, 8.1% of the 102,000 homeless people in New Zealand are from the Wellington region where winters can be deadly. The country has roughly 8000 people who are living in temporary accommodation, and like those that are homeless, they are also more susceptible to physical attacks and are more likely to experience verbal abuse in places where they stay.
As of September last year, the Downtown Community Ministry of Wellington recorded 464 people as homeless, compared to 330 in September 2023, a 40% increase. This is believed to have increased this year even further.
People who have no security in their housing – such as those staying night by night at a shelter or backpackers – are also homeless. People in this situation have no security of tenure in the same way you would if you were flatting and held a tenancy. This lack of security also applies to people who live in boarding houses. People living in unsuitable housing are also considered to be homeless. Living in a garage or sleep-out without electricity or water would fall into this category.
In response to an invitation from local doctors to help provide social support to a growing community, Suzanne Aubert and the Sisters of Compassion came to Wellington in 1899. The Compassion Soup Kitchen, founded by Suzanne Aubert, has been operating in Te Aro, Wellington since 1901. In Wellington, home nursing of the ‘sick poor’ was identified as a need in the community but on arrival in the capital the Sisters quickly became involved in many other areas of need including opening the country’s first crèche to support working mothers, providing a home for children and residential care for invalids. Before long the Sisters were providing support across a range of services and in 1907 opened the Home of Compassion hospital in Island Bay.
Amongst the works Suzanne and the Sisters began in the city was the serving of soup to around 80 men each day out of a sliding window in the kitchen of St Joseph’s Home for Incurables in Buckle St.
Today, The Soup Kitchen continues to feed and assist vulnerable people in the Wellington inner city and are teaming up with some local musicians to put on a charity event, on Friday the 22nd of August. This Silent Divide, Rain and The Urban Bohemians, Electric Tapestry, Los Punkys, along with Hannah-Leigh, are performing at the iconic Welsh Dragon to collect koha and cans for the kitchen. This is a wonderful opportunity for those in need to be assisted by music lovers and fans of the the bands performing. Even if you are not from the region, share this event, raise awareness and encourage everyone to help out amazing centres like The Compassion Soup Kitchen, to help those in need this winter.
