On Sunday morning, we lost our beautiful Sanctum studio due to a devastating accidental fire. While the fire department arrived quickly, the timber building was completely engulfed. Our lovely pole and movement studio was burned to the ground. There is nothing left.

The fire service investigator said that the fire or small explosion started in the wooden shed of the neighbouring property, then jumped over to Sanctum. He said the explosion must have been powerful because it threw our 5kg dumbells about 2m away from where they were stored.

Sanctum was a special place for so many women in the community, a place to come and gain strength, confidence & friendship, to do things we never thought we could do. Over the last 4 years we've built a strong and beautiful community of women from all walks of life, centred around our love of dance. We came to learn, to grow & take time for ourselves.

Dancers from all around the country even came to dance with us in our cosy, green & warm Sanctum.

Now, we are faced with cleanup of the complete devastation and then finding a new space for Sanctum, and re-creating our studio, completely from scratch.

We're committed to our original vision, to create a cosy, welcoming space for women of all abilities to come together to dance & gain confidence & friendship.

If you feel compelled to contribute, we would love you to be part of our community & our journey of rebuilding Sanctum.

While insurance will help, there is so much that isn't covered, because the building was destroyed. Your contribution will help clear away the burned building (the building is/was owned by our beautiful Sanctum student Zenita), deal with insurance, cover lost income, find a new space for Sanctum, pay for electrial, engineering, and navigate the planning and approvals process in a new space.

Your contribution will also help with fitting out the next Sanctum with poles, mirrors, flooring, crash mats, yoga mats, a/v equipment & all the things that make a studio.

$50 will buy a square metre of flooring

$100 will buy a yoga mat

$250 will buy a crash mat

$500 will buy a mirror

$1000 will (almost!) buy a pole

More than that buys a spot in pole heaven! :)

This is a huge project. If I'm honest, it's very daunting, especially on the back of such a heartbreaking event. We are faced with months of hard work, and a lot of time & money will be required. We are not just replacing contents, but creating again from scratch, including negotiating the approvals process which is time consuming and very costly.

But we are committed, and we will work through the tears & sadness, breathe, and put one foot in front of the other, to rebuild Sanctum because we know it's needed.

With your help the spirit of the original Sanctum will live on & we can create a new, beautiful & welcoming sanctuary for women in our community.

Much love & gratitude,

Indi & our Sanctum community.

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