The Anglican Missions Mosque Victims Appeal has raised $59,185 in donations for Christchurch-based organisation Victim Support, which is passing all funds raised directly to the families of the 51 people who died in or following the terror attack, the 49 people injured, and eye witnesses.

Victim Support, which helps victims of crime and trauma take control of restoring their lives, has received a total of NZ$10.9 million from donors around the world, which will go in full to the mosque shooting victims, with no funds redirected to administration costs.

The Anglican Missions Mosque Victims Appeal received donations from across the Anglican province of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia and beyond, mostly arriving as small gifts from individuals ranging from $50-$500.

On Friday 22 March, the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul also held a free memorial performance of Karl Jenkins' ‘The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace’ performed by a massed choir of 150 singers, which raised $7,173 in donations towards the Anglican Missions appeal.

Wellington Cathedral Director of Music Michael Stewart selected Jenkins’ choral work for its text which draws wisdom for peace from many faiths, including a Muslim call to prayer, words from the Christian Mass, the Hindu epic Mahabharata and the poetry of Kipling, Tennyson and Toge Sankichi.

Taking place in the week following the mosque tragedy, the performance at Wellington Cathedral offered a space for hundreds to reflect on peace as both the New Zealand Muslim community and the wider nation reeled from this unprecedented act of violence in 21^st century Aotearoa New Zealand.

“It was a spine tingling event that packed the Cathedral.” said Anglican Missions Operations and Projects Officer Michael Hartfield. “You could have heard a pin drop.”

“While our role with mosque victims and their families is a first ‘emergency response’, the mosque families will also be eligible to receive counselling and advocacy services for their ongoing post-trauma needs,” said Cam Cotter, Victim Support’s General Manager for Communications.

Other significant donations to the Anglican Missions appeal were $1,000 from the Waikato Diocesan School for Girls, $1,400 from US-based Episcopal Relief and Development and $2,600 raised by St Alban’s Anglican Church in Eastbourne.