Family’s year of honouring Grace
Daughter’s legacy is charity funds raised to fight violence
It’s been an entire year since Grace Millane died. Today, she should have been celebrating her 23rd birthday. Instead her parents, her brothers, all those who loved her will be remembering the bubbly girl who was ripped from them in “barbaric” fashion.
Less than two weeks ago a 27-yearold man was found guilty of her murder.
The man will be sentenced in February, but he cannot be named for legal reasons, meaning attention instead has been on Millane and her legacy.
Millane’s parents, David and Gillian, spent three weeks listening to harrowing evidence at the High Court trial last month.
They heard how the man met Millane on a Tinder date on the eve of her 22nd birthday; how he strangled her some time late on December 1 or early the next morning, then buried her body in a suitcase in the Waitakere Ranges.
And they heard a jury pronounce him guilty of murder, bringing justice for their daughter and a measure of peace to the family.
Now the Millanes have returned to the United Kingdom to start “picking up the pieces” of their lives, along with her brothers, Declan and Michael.
The Millanes were praised for the dignity with which they have faced the worst trial a parent could endure.
They will face the anniversary of her death with the same dignity.
But in the intervening year they haven’t sat on their hands — they have been campaigning to raise awareness of violence against women, to help make deaths like Millane’s a thing of the past.
When Millane’s body was found, candlelit vigils were held across New Zealand, in her memory and in the memory of other murdered women, many of whom were killed at home.
In a post to Facebook, the organisers of the vigils pointed out that the “gut reaction” for many people was to say “this isn’t New Zealand, this isn’t us”.
“To some degree it isn’t — travelling women don’t often get murdered here — but New Zealand women do, most often in their homes. We can hold both these things as important as part of the vigil.”
Over the past year the family have focused on creating a legacy for Millane. They have fundraised thousands of pounds for charity White Ribbon, which aims to end male violence against women.
The Millanes have collaborated with LL Loves, Grace’s favourite jewellery brand to create bracelets and earrings in her name. A portion of the sale price of each piece goes to White Ribbon UK.
The company’s website warns buyers that their bracelets may take extra time to arrive because of “extremely high demand”.
The Millanes have also created a charity, Love Grace, that collects handbags filled with toiletries and useful items to donate to women’s refuges in the UK.
A message on each bag says Grace Millane was “a loving, family orientated free spirit with a beautiful caring nature, who was a loyal friend and enhanced the lives of all who were lucky enough to meet her”.
“Grace’s family have created the legacy in her name by fundraising for the White Ribbon charity, promoting awareness to end male violence towards women.
“To continue this legacy, we have created ‘ Love Grace’ bags.
“Donated in memory of our amazing Grace, which contain everyday essentials that we hope will be of benefit to you and help you on your road to a safe future.
“Believe in yourself no matter what.”
Gillian and David Millane spoke to the media after the jury’s unanimous decision on November 22.
David Millane said although the guilty verdict was welcomed by their family it did not reduce the pain and suffering they had endured over the past year.
“This will be with us for the rest of our lives,” he said.
“Grace was a beautiful, talented, loving daughter. Grace was our sunshine and she will be missed forever.”
His only daughter did not deserve to be “murdered in such a barbaric way” on her OE.
“I cannot express our gratitude enough for all the offers and gifts of kindness that we’ve received over the past year. Finally, we must return home and try and pick up the pieces of our lives on a day-to-day without our beloved Grace.”