Te Araroa Trail and Mental Health Awareness

Jordon Sharratt, Patrick Smith, and Matthew Wilson thought we would make a give a little page for three young lads on an adventure of a lifetime walking the length of New Zealand on the Te Araroa Trail, all the way from Cape Reinga to Bluff. Anything at all will be a great help for our limited budgets! We are starting from the lighthouse on the 26th of November.

The money will be used to help with our budgets as we have a strict budget to live off of for 5 months. We will be without an income and some of us will be scraping by, particularly on food. We will have to resupply on food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the whole time which the cost will add up. Moreover, good equipment for this walk has been expensive, such as sleeping bags and mats, tramping packs, walking boots/shoes, and all the little bits in between like warm gear and bowls. The extra money will help when any one of our equipment does get broken or damaged.

We are also going to take this opportunity of walking the whole of New Zealand to raise mental health awareness. We are bound to meet a heap of people along the way. More people need to know that it is okay to talk and to seek help. Hopefully we can try and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health by encouraging people to reach out and talk about it.

We will have numbers of certain helplines and organisations that will hopefully be of aid to someone on the trail:

Lifeline- 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)- for counselling and support

Healthline- 0800 611 116- for advice from trained registered nurses

Samaritans- 0800 726 666- for confidential support for anyone who is lonely or in emotional distress

Suicide Crisis Helpline- 0508 828 865

Youthline- 0800 376 633, free text 234, or visit www.youthline.co.nz

Thanks for your help!