Yes, thats right. Melinda Schneider our Patron and multi awarded country singer is coming to the Riverland in November. We hope you can come along and hear her great songs including from her new album, Melinda Does Doris. When the date is confirmed we will let you know.

Our Patron, Melinda Schneider is Dancing with the Stars. Congratulations and well done Melinda.

we are mourning the deaths of two past clients. Both women had endured long term violence, abuse and grief in their lives. Both had young children that were killed in an untimely tragic manner. We honour these women's and children's lives that are lost.

Car Rally and Scavenger Hunt to be held Saturday 20th March 2010! The Riverland Housing Co-operative have organised a car rally, treasure hunt and sausage sizzle to raise funds for our programs. Having donated $500 already to buy childrens toys the Housing Co-op have put a lot of time and energy into this fundraising event. Registrations from 12.30 and take off at 2pm. The cost is only $5 per person phone 85821419 for enquiries. Come along and have fun with the children. Great prizes to win and a bar b q too.

Well known Australian country singer Melinda Schneider held an ebay auction of one of her albums and has donated 50% to our agency. Thankyou Melinda! 100% of donations go to our programs for women & children. Melinda said this was the first & more will come and these funds will pay for the current groups we are running. So donations to us provide REAL 100% benefit to our clients: women & children experiencing domestic violence.

Centacare have been approved "Preferred Support Provider" status which means we will be able to submit the tender to operate our services. Tenders will be released by the government very soon. Both Federal and State governments are working on reforms to the domestic violence and homelessness sectors. Part of the reforms are that every agency must have or are about to have some sort of Accreditaion status and have OHS&W policies and practices in place. This serves to ensure that clients accessing the sector for assistance will receive the same level of professional service where ever they go. This is great news for those in need and the reforms coming from the State Domestic Violence Steering Group will enact more positive changes to ensure the best services possible across South Australia.

The RDVU have been providing a service for the Riverland community for more than twenty years. In 2008 it became apparent that the agency may not survive past the next 5 years due to stagnant funding and rising costs. In order to take some control over our future we commenced negotiations with Centacare with a view of becoming one of their services. Centacare is a large organisation with a head office in Adelaide but many services across South Australia and there are Centacares in other States and Territories too. Since the 1st July 2009 the RDVU became the Riverland Domestic Violence Service, part of Centacare Catholic Family Serivces SA. We still provide the same services for women and children in the Riverland. The main difference is that we now have a great deal of support in the areas of Occupational Health and Safety, tendering, accounting and clerical, IT, policies, accreditation and vehicles. We also have access to other Centacare agencies and workers when required. We are still finding our feet with being part of a very large organisation but we are confident that the change is positive.

After a recent spate of women and children murdered by their partner or ex partner various reports put them down to simple "domestic disputes" or blamed the "drought". The Coalition of Women's Domestic Violence Services SA are holding a Rally on the steps of Parliament House on Thursday the 26th March to raise our concerns that the issue of domestic violence is again being ignored. So with respect for the murdered women and children we will remember them with one minutes silence before invited guest speakers tell the community what they are doing about this issue. Speakers will include: Hon Michael Atkinson, Hon Gail Gago, Dr Elspeth McGuiness and Vicki Chapman MP. The Riverland DV Unit's Patron, Jeanette Wormald will also present a song about domestic violence. We will distribute red roses on the day. We will be on the steps of Parliament House at 9.30am.

We are absolutely delighted that Melinda has joined us. We are sure that most of you would have heard of Melinda through her music. As times get tougher as we see more and more families in need, we look for positive activities that will raise our spirits. Jeanette Wormald joined us some years ago and has lent her assistance to the RDVU in various ways. With Melinda's support, we hope to raise more awareness of domestic violence and how it affects families. There is a certain level of acceptance of domestic violence in our community. Our Patrons are here to say that there should not be any tolerance of domestic violence because we all deserve to live safe and happy lives and to provide safe havens for our children. We encourage everyone to support our talented Patrons as they do their bit to create peace and happiness in our worlds.

The RDVU has come up with another exciting fundraising idea. We have written to some of the celebrities who supported us with the last project and invited them to participate in a new cookbook. Each person has been asked to send in two of their favourite recipes for the book and we have already had some responses. We have recipes from Dame Shirley Bassey, Yoko Ono, Jackie French, Doris Day, Jane Fonda, Normie Rowe, Julian Lennon and Tyne Daly. The project is expected to go for one year collecting recipes before the full production of the book. We will look forward to that time!

It is with deep sorrow we announce the passing of member and previous Chairperson, Jan Langdon. Jan slipped away after a short illness and we remember her for her happiness, joy, caring, dedication and high spirits. Our thoughts are with her partner and young children. Jan will be missed by all at the RDVU as well as many more in our community. Jan loved the colours purple and yellow and this was clearly a great tribute at her funeral.

To the Manager of the RDVU, Ms Ele Wilde for her entry in the inagural edition of the Who's Who of South Australia and also the Who's Who of Australian Women 2007 and now also the 2008 editions. Congratulations again as Ele is entered into the 2010 Who's Who of Australian Women - Hope and Courage.