Mental Health Foundation NZ

Your monthly update from the Mental Health Foundation

In Touch

Ākuhata / August 2022

Kia ora ,

What a massive month! We're in the final days of our first ever Mindfulness Month with over $80,000 raised so far and more funds still coming in.

Over 3000 amazing humans used Mindfulness Month as an opportunity to not only create a daily mindfulness practice, but also fundraise for Mental Health Foundation. If you were one of them – thank you!

As we leave August and Mindfulness Month behind, we turn to September and Mental Health

Awareness Week (MHAW), which will be held on 26 September – 2 October.

For this year's MHAW we're inviting you to reconnect. The past couple of years have been tough and it's easy to feel disconnected from the people and places that are important to us. Whether it's reconnecting with someone you have lost contact with, a special place or even yourself, reconnect with the people and places that lift you up to enhance your wellbeing - hei pikinga waiora.

Keep reading to find out how you can get involved and get reconnected.

Thinking about fundraising?

If you believe we should all be able to play a part in shaping the mental health system we want to see, then MHAW might be the perfect opportunity to put your hopes into action.

Funds raised during MHAW support our policy and advocacy work, enabling us to keep you informed and share opportunities to have your say.

Activities are only limited by your imagination!

Keep it simple - try a morning tea, or a non-uniform day, or ask your company to match donations.

Go online – we hope you'll love our online fundraising pages as much as we do. They're super easy to create and share with your friends, your customers, and your community.

Got your own fundraising idea? – we'd love to hear about it and help you bring it to life. How about an invitation to reconnect with your neighbours for a walk around the area or up your maunga? Could you team up with a local business? Get in touch!

If you're keen to fundraise, or want to have a chat, click here and we'll be in touch!

Resources and ideas:

The Mental Health Awareness Week website is a great place to discover how you can get involved.

Order a free resource pack for your workplace, school or community group. Each pack contains a flyer, sticker sheets, posters and a set of kōrero starter cards to help your team get to know each other better.

There are also heaps of digital resources available to download here.

The MHAW 2022 Guide offers inspiration and activities to help you reconnect this MHAW.

You'll also find our kōrero starter activity to help you get to know your hoamahi/colleagues better, as well as guidance to help you tell your lived experience story safely.

Find out what's happening in your neighbourhood, or add your own event here.

If you haven't signed up for updates, you can do that here. These emails are packed full of great information to help you take part in MHAW.

Policy and Advocacy Update:

Research indicates that exclusion is the most important underlying determinant of poor mental health and wellbeing outcomes, and people experiencing mental illness are likely to be socially excluded. Significant mechanisms of exclusion in Aotearoa New Zealand include colonisation, discrimination, social isolation, economic deprivation, trauma and adverse childhood experiences, and the stigma of mental distress itself.

While there are things we can do as individuals to improve our own mental health, positive mental health and wellbeing also needs to be supported by creating and promoting safe, strong and supportive communities where knowledge, hope and healthy coping strategies are built and shared. To do this we also need to address systemic threats to mental health and wellbeing.

A big part of our mahi is influencing the government and decision-makers around public policy that will help create an Aotearoa where all people enjoy positive mental health and wellbeing.

You can check out our policy positions and recent submissions here

Thank you again for your continued support.

Wishing you, your whānau and friends all the best as we welcome in spring and the change of season.

Nāku iti nei,

Ali & the Mental Health Foundation team

Donate

mentalhealth.org.nz | unsubscribe

Want to know more about work the Mental Health Foundation is involved in?

We have a variety of e-newsletters that are specific to our areas of work including research and information, workplace wellbeing and eliminating discrimination. Subscribe now!

Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand | PO Box 10051 | Dominion Road | Auckland 1446 | New Zealand