RĀKAU ROROA/TALL TREES - Mental Health - Lived Experience Leaders National Awards

RĀKAU ROROA/TALL TREES

Mental Health - Lived Experience Leaders Initiative

We are asking for financial sponsorship to go directly to celebrating and valuing our Rākau Roroa Volunteers at a national gathering on 6 November, 2019. We sincerely hope you would help us to celebrate our 100 Tall Trees this year. The funds will be used to provide small gifts or vouchers for their conference bags on the 6th and 7th of November this year, or a Major Prize to gift with one of our Awards.

Described as “the most exciting thing happening in mental health”, this initiative is causing quite a buzz in the New Zealand mental health sector.

Rākau Roroa (translates from Te Reo Māori to mean ‘Tall Trees’), and supports the national Like Minds, Like Mine programme by countering prejudice (including internalised stigma) and discrimination by recruiting, training and supporting influencers in their communities.

These influencers are from all walks of life and are recruited throughout New Zealand in priority communities and settings eg, workplaces, education, and health settings.

By being supported to use their own stories of distress and recovery to inform strengths-based projects and activities locally where they live, work, learn and play, these champions challenge assumptions and stereotypes of mental illness and distress and change people’s minds about mental health.

He Ara Oranga, the recent New Zealand Government Mental Health Inquiry, recommended that the people most affected by mental health and addiction should be those at the centre of the future of our wellbeing services, communities and supports.

Our Tall Trees are coming up with creative and human-centered solutions for mass social change. These are our future Mental Health Leaders working in the communities they influence to inspire change for future generations.