Chris Bath fronts crowd funding campaign for women’s refuge Mary’s House

Former Seven newsreader Chris Bath has fronted a new crowd-funding campaign for North Sydney women’s refuge, Mary’s House.

The campaign has raised $70,000 in two weeks and tells the story of how local women and men established the refuge, on Sydney’s lower North Shore, to provide crisis accommodation for women and their children who are victims of domestic violence.

“For a group of mostly professional business people on the committee, turning to crowd funding is unusual,” said Emma Rossi, a volunteer with Mary’s House.

“We are actively engaged on social media and apparently the $70,000 already raised on (crowd-funding platform) Chuffed is among the highest for an Australian campaign.

The crowd-sourcing campaign is being used to is to raise money for Mary’s House and will help with installation of a new kitchen, bathroom, accessibility and security.

“It is truly a case of a local solution to a significant national problem,” said Rossi. “We are pressing all buttons with analogue fundraising, too, including a recent walk across Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge.

“There has been wonderful community support because an overwhelming number of women and children need help, regardless of their postcode.

“There are just over two weeks of the campaign to run and we’re fully tax deductible.”