Every year, Orange City picks a charity to make a donation and after donating to pancreatic cancer in 2019, The Orchard felt like a perfect recipient for this winter.

Powered by Housing Plus, The Orchard describes itself as a safe haven for women an children escaping domestic violence. It will provide a safe and supportive environment for victims to recover.

"Every year we like to get behind a charity," Grant said.

"We talked to The Orchards and established what they were about it. We're a family club at City and we want to help look after people.

"What a lot of people might not realise with domestic violence is that the ones who are impacted might be a lot closer to you than you think.

"With the way lock down is now, it might be harder than every for people to get out of their houses."

Grant also added she thinks there should be "more places like this in the Central West."

Club president Chris Whittaker echoed the thoughts of Grant, speaking about the increased role of women participation at the club.

"We always speak about being a family club, and we want to support something that supports women and children feeling safe," he said.

"We live in a lovely town but sadly, Orange has more than its fair share of domestic violence.

"We're trying to do things as a community to diminish that. We want to get behind The Orchard."

Housing Plus engagement officer Rochelle Monaghan spoke about the importance of building partnerships with local clubs like Orange City, and what The Orchard is hoping to establish in the community.

"We were very excited to partner with Orange City," she said.

"They money they donated will go towards helping the women and children who are staying here. It will help them purchase food and buy clothes... we're very grateful."

Community funding allowed The Orchard to announce its plans to open at the beginning of last year, but it's been fully functional since the start of 2021.

"There's been plenty of campaigning for crisis accommodation for domestic violence," she said.

"Through community fundraising and government grans, we were able to deliver The Orchard, and we opened our doors at the start of this year."

The complex features six two-bedroom apartments which are arranged in duplexes and are designed and equipped for families.

The design of the apartment provides flexibility for large families with interlocking doors.

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