A Winter Walk Over Wellington/kunanyi for the Homeless: Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival Pilgrimage

Next week a group of dedicated walkers will be hiking overnight from Hobart to the Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival,
via kunanyi/Mount Wellington, in the name of charity.

The inaugural Huon Valley Mid-Winter Pilgrimage is an ambitious fund-raiser developed by Tasmanian businesses Wild
Pedder and Willie Smith’s Cider Makers; walkers will traverse from Bethlehem House in Hobart’s CBD to kunanyi/Mt
Wellington where they will stay overnight, before continuing to the festival, held at Willie Smith’s Apple Shed in Grove
– a journey of some 40km.

Both businesses feel deeply empathetic about the predicament of the homeless and are committed to raising funds and
awareness of the plight of Hobart’s homeless, so they have set a target of raising $25 000 for crisis and emergency
accommodation providers Bethlehem House and Hobart Women’s Shelter.

“Out on the streets, the Hobart winter is a harsh one. Many people feel incredibly fortunate that each night they get to
go home to a warm house and a comfy bed. The reality for many people around Hobart is very different,” said Cody
McCracken, Pilgrimage coordinator and Wild Pedder co-founder. “We want to help organisations like Hobart Women’s
Shelter and Bethlehem House to support people in crisis accommodation.”

“It is an ambitious figure,” says Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festivals’ festival manager, Krystal Cox, “but we want to make
a real difference for these organisations – we want to see the money go into some real-life projects and help people in
need.”

Hobart Women’s Shelter CEO Janet Saunders was grateful for the support and said that donations would “directly
support the development of new programs and activities in the Shelter.”

“In the 16/17 financial year, we received over 3000 accommodation requests which were an increase of 215% on the
previous year. The current rental crisis is causing very significant challenges for us in finding safe and affordable housing
for women and their children who are staying with us.”

The fundraiser has already received in-kind support from local Tasmanian businesses including Drive Car Hire, Hype TV,
Crows Nest Media, Osborne Images and Hill Street Grocer.

DONATION PAGE: https://www.mycause.com.au/page/175324/huon-valley-midwinter-fest-pilgrimage or Google Mycause and search ‘Huon Valley’ on the MyCause website

EVENT DETAILS

When: Thursday 12 July & 13 Friday July, 2018
Where: Walking from – Bethlehem House, 56 Warwick Street, Hobart to Willie Smith’s Apple Shed, 2064 Huon
Highway, Grove over 2 days. Camping at the Springs.
Arrival time at Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival: 5PM

Cody McCracken & Lou Balcombe of Wild Pedder
Trina Mangles of Willie Smiths
Stephanie Kirkman Meikle of Bethlehem House
Janet Saunders of Hobart Womens Shelter
Cody McCracken, Trina Mangles, Stephanie Kirkman Meikle, Janet Saunders