Gumboot Friday - Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Youth Services event!

Gumboot Friday, Charity by IAMHOPE, is something myself and my colleagues at Te Wananga o Aotearoa Youth Services are super passionate about! Mike and the team are trying to raise as much money as possible so that young people 25 and under can tap straight into free counselling - with there being no admin fees etc.

As a youth coach, I know how hard it is trying to get a vulnerable young person in for a counselling appointment and the process is never "quick and easy". Majority of the time they have to book a doctors appointment (which can take at least a week to get in now that we're heading into winter), the doctor needs to make the referral so they can get UP TO 3 free sessions, and then wait for a counselling appointment from there which can also take a long time.. Unfortunatelly for a lot of our young people, the trauma they may have experienced is heavy and many can't wait that long.. We loose too many of our young people due to suicide with our numbers being amoung the highest in the world (In 2020 New Zealand had the highest rate of teen suicide in the OECD, at 18 per 100,000 for those aged 15–19 (19.6 per 100,000 for males and 16.3 per 100,000 for females).

To support this kaupapa, we will be hosting a community event where local support services will be there set up readily available to promote their services, we will have kai stalls who will donate some of the profit from the day, live entirtainment and much more.

Our main event of the day is our 100km walk! We have a 1km track mapped out, where anyone can support by walking a km or 2, until we reach our goal of getting to 100km. We want to raise awareness around mental health and how it can often feel like walking through the mud at times. So, by wearing our gumboots and going for a walk, we are putting ourselves in the shoes of someone who suffers from depression - or other mental illnesses, just for a moment to spread awareness and try raise some $$$$