Christmas Message

Christmas time is a time for giving and has a touch of magic around it that is hard to explain, as people and families that can be apart due to enormous distances or perhaps other issues, have this amazing ability to come together and celebrate the birth of Christ.

We cannot underestimate the power of this feeling in giving up our usual busy lifestyles to show love to our fellow human beings no matter their background.

Having said this, the end of the year can also be a time for a rise in domestic, family and sexual violence and the education we deliver around this issue with the NO MORE violence Campaign cannot be underestimated.

The enormous responsibility we carry to deliver our key messages around all the types of violence to families is so important as it is the women and children that are most vulnerable.

We speak to dozens of Men’s groups all over the NT with a culmination of around 1000 Men attending our sessions per year.  Men have an opportunity to speak up and let their feelings out that they normally wouldn’t in everyday life.

This helps us to refer men to get help for anger and other issues that are hindering them from moving forward in their life.  One of our moto’s is for men to “say what they mean and mean what they say” when it comes to their families, otherwise trust can be lost a little bit at a time and the family can lose trust in them.

We also attend many sporting events and shows around the NT and promote our NO MORE Campaign to tens of thousands of people over many different sporting backgrounds from men to women and children of all backgrounds and cultures.

Statistically men are the biggest perpetrators of domestic, family and sexual violence but they also can become the solution as well.

In this most important time of the year we let you know that there is hope when it comes to domestic, family and sexual violence, and if we all remain responsible for our actions and not blame others then we can have a prosperous future with our families.

On behalf of CatholicCare NT and the NO MORE Campaign we wish you and your families a safe and happy Christmas.

 

Malcolm Fox
NO MORE Team Leader