The HAPPY bus

Before Emily's husband Cam ended his own life, he invited their community of friends, including their 4 children's friends, to a bus painting party. Many people added their own personalised art to the sunshine coloured bus, which became known as HAPPY. He had in mind that HAPPY would become something akin to a traveling music roadshow, with a stage on the roof for his musical family and others to perform and 'spread the love' around Aotearoa New Zealand - as he was one of those effervescent magnetic people who had an overflow of love and happiness to share around, particularly when he was in the high cycle of his bi-polar personality.

Since Cam's death the HAPPY project has been put on hold as the family struggle to come to terms with the loss of their beautiful husband/father and the massive changes - emotionally, financially, physically, mentally, that resulted.

Emily wants to complete the HAPPY project and hit the road in the sunshine bus to get people talking about suicide and promote community connection by bringing people together through music. She has the support of others working in the field of mental health, and fellow musicians who would join her on this hikoi.

Emily has already become a spokesperson in Tauranga Moana for suicide awareness through her own blogs of her emotional journey of grief, community projects such as 'sing sing sing' and the establishment of a fortnightly group open to anyone who wants to talk, called 'you are not alone'.

The goal of creating this givealittle page is to raise the funds to finish retrofitting the interior to accommodate self contained travel - install bunks, toilet/shower, and the roof-top stage, secure instrument storage and integrated sound system.