Record funding boost for Southern Lakes winter mental wellbeing initiatives
A record $87,000 will be injected into initiatives that improve mental wellbeing, social connection and resilience in communities across the Southern Lakes region over the next few months.
Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group has supported 92 groups in its latest Connecting Communities funding round, with each receiving up to $1,000 to help facilitate community-led activities.
Recipients included the St John Health Shuttle establishing a new Friendship Drive in Cromwell; an Open Day and tribute benches at Arrowtown’s Bush Creek community ice rink; Curious Conversations guided art tours in Queenstown for communities with accessibility needs; an all abilities staircase to access the Manapouri community swimming pool; Wānaka Community Workshop training events for men; a Blue Light Te Anau Life Skills course for youth aged 14-17; a Pride flag mural at Mt Aspiring College; a Latinos for NZ La Festa Junina event in Queenstown; a new community noticeboard for Te Anau; and a range of Matariki activities across the region. A full list is available online.
Adell Cox, Chair of the Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group, said that the response to this funding round has been “phenomenal”, particularly from Te Anau and Manapouri.
“We had a thirty-five percent increase in applications overall this time and we’ve funded as many initiatives as we could.
“It’s been really inspiring and heartwarming to see how hard our Southern Lakes communities are working to improve their collective wellbeing, celebrate diversity and be inclusive,” said Ms Cox.
First-time applicant Arrowtown RSA will put its funding towards an initiative to bring seniors and young people together.
“We want to connect our older and younger generations through conversation, a social gathering and working together to tidy up the gravesites of ex-personnel laid to rest in the Arrowtown Cemetery ahead of Armistice Day. It’s a great opportunity for all ages to learn from each other and it will involve older service personnel and associated members, Arrowtown Scouts, St John Youth and, hopefully, Arrowtown school pupils,” says PTA President Rosemary Chalmers.
Business initiatives funded include a Central Otago and Southern Lakes-wide campaign run by the Headlight Trust to encourage all businesses to get involved in Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 Sept 2023) using the Five Ways to Wellbeing model.
Headlight CEO Anna Dorsey says that a digital kit of ideas, suggestions and evidence-informed strategies will be provided for businesses to sign up to.
“The kit will highlight ways businesses can contribute to supporting the mental health of their community, showcase local champions of mental health to help reduce stigma and discrimination, and highlight the value of workplaces investing in ongoing workplace wellbeing.”
Fiordland Community Kai runs regular community cook-ups in Te Anau and plans to host a Winter Warmer, Food for the Soul series with its funding.
“We’re hosting three community-based cooking classes over winter which focus on teaching tasty, nutritious and affordable meals. Our aim is for the participants to come away with new connections, skills, ideas and the confidence to cook healthy nutritious kai,” says organiser Katherine Mitchell.
Te Hau Toka introduced the Connecting Communities fund in November 2021 as part of its efforts to combat the ongoing mental health impacts of COVID-19. Since then, there have been six funding rounds, 329 recipients and nearly $320,000 injected across Queenstown, Wānaka, Cromwell, and Fiordland to help people improve mental wellbeing, social connection and resilience in their own communities.
The next Connecting Communities funding rounds dates are 6-16 November 2023 and 8-18 April 2024. Eligible not-for-profit groups can apply for up to $1,000 including GST to support community-focused mental wellbeing initiatives.
For more details, visit www.southernhealth.nz/tehautoka.
Background
The funding for Connecting Communities has been made possible through the Government’s Tourism Communities: Support, Recovery, and Re-Set Plan funding which is administered by Te Whatu Ora Southern with the guidance of Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group.
The Government fund focuses on the tourism-dependent Queenstown Lakes and Fiordland communities, however Te Hau Toka has also included Cromwell in its catchment as many people work in the Queenstown Lakes area. The funding has enabled Te Hau Toka to help support, promote and protect the social and mental wellbeing of people living in Queenstown, Wānaka, Cromwell and Te Anau/Fiordland, and assist with addressing the ongoing negative effects of COVID-19 through a range of initiatives.