About me
5 September 2016Charity Walk 2017
Be the change for mental illness
Hi, my name is Sarah Clifford and I am 24 years old. I currently live in Southland while studying a Certificate and Diploma on Psychology and Counselling.
I am walking the length of New Zealand in 2017 (starting on the 31st January 2017) to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation and Building Bridges Community Support.
Building Bridges Community Support was founded by myself to raise awareness of mental illness. I provide services to children, teenagers and adults; where I can go into schools, local groups, resthomes, workplaces and online services where I can raise awareness of the stigma and discrimination that goes with mental illness.
I believe that every human in New Zealand deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. Mental Illness is all around us, and many of us don’t know how to cope or who to turn to for help. Many people just think it’s the norm and you just get over it.
I am a person who suffered from mental illness. I grew up with no parents, I suffered PTSD, and I required mental health services. But no matter where I turned stigma and discrimination was all around me.
I am here to make a change for the better, as Mahatma Gandhi once said “Be the change that you wish to see in the world”.
Mental illness shouldn’t be a taboo subject, it needs to be talked about, people need help, people deserve to be happy and live a happy and full life.
Don’t be ashamed and being part of the change, stand up and fight, fight for a loved one, fight for an individual, and fight for the cause.
From now until the end of the end of this journey, I hope that I have you all on board and that we can all be a part of making a difference.
Kia Kaha,
Sarah Clifford (Founder of Building Bridges Community Support)