New red bench outside Harvey church holds powerful message to #ChangeTheEnding in domestic violence cases

A new bright red bench sitting under a tree in Harvey holds a powerful message about domestic violence.

Harvey’s St Paul’s Church unveiled its red bench at a community gathering on Wednesday as part of a collaboration with the Red Rose Foundation to raise awareness around domestic violence - part of their campaign to #ChangeTheEnding.

The movement started in Queensland in 2019 and has seen red benches popping up across Australia in an effort to make the issue visible within communities.

Harvey’s bench is the third in Western Australia with the State’s first pair built in Mandurah late last year.

St Paul’s Rev. Cathie Broome said the new bench was a sign of the community coming together to support the issue.

She said the bench originally came to the church as a donation from a domestic violence survivor, and it was in relatively poor condition.

The Harvey Men’s Shed refurbished the bench, before the church’s youth group gave it a fresh coat of paint and the Harvey Community Resource Centre supplied flyers to advertise the unveiling.

“Today (Wednesday) was really about all of us coming together and saying, ‘look, domestic violence isn’t ok and we’re not going to stick our head in the sand’,” Rev. Broome said.

“It’s really important that as a small community, we have big voices and we help one another.”

Rev. Broome said the bench would stand out, making its message visible and serve a much more practical purpose.

“I suspect we’ll have many blokes perch themselves under the tree as their wives come to the op shop to have a look,” she said.

“This bench is not only practical, it’s something we are excited to have in town so people start talking about domestic violence in a way that can make a difference and raise awareness.”

Though the bench is only new in town, Rev. Broome said the church had long been prepared to help those in need with information packs available for those experiencing domestic violence.

“Our doors are always open,” she said.

“We’re here to help, and if as a community we’re not doing that, we’ve got it very wrong.”