Te Hau Toka update: Looking after your mental wellbeing Dec 2021

Kia ora koutou katoa,

As we head into holiday season, the Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group wishes you all a safe, relaxing and happy Christmas and New Year. 

People, young and old, can struggle over the Christmas/New Year holiday period and this year has been particularly tough for many.  Spending time with others gives us a chance to connect, check in with them and offer support. It’s a good opportunity to share your feelings or concerns with friends, family – anyone that you trust – and it means you have a good support system in place with people who can help you seek professional help if needed.

Services are often closed during Christmas and key contact people may be on holiday or unavailable.  

We’ve put together the attached wellbeing guide with some key numbers and helpful resources to use if you, or someone you know, needs support over the next few weeks until everyone is back at work.

Christmas lunch: The Salvation Army Queenstown, Happiness House and the Wakatipu Community Presbyterian Church are hosting Christmas lunch at the Queenstown Memorial Centre at midday on 25 December for anyone who would like to join in the festivities.  Bookings via Queenstown.corps@salvationarmy.org.nz or 03 442 9661.  Please note that this is a vaccine passport event. Contactless takeaways are also available.

Thanks to the generosity of locals and the Mees family, $5,480 was raised through the Deer Park Heights Locals’ Weekends and donated to Salvation Army Queenstown and Happiness House to spend on Christmas gifts and hampers for local families in need.  What an awesome gift!

News

Te Hau Toka Connecting Communities fund - We’re delighted to have supported 27 groups through our new Connecting Communities fund, injecting $25,000 across the Southern Lakes region for mental wellbeing activities or events over the summer months.  Launched in November, the fund supports community-led activities and events across Queenstown, Wānaka, Cromwell, and Te Anau/Fiordland that improve mental wellbeing by bringing people together and promoting the Five Ways to Wellbeing and Te Whare Tapa Wha. More info, including the recipients of the 1st round of funding, here.

WHO-5 wellbeing survey – Just a reminder that our new WHO-5 quarterly ‘mood check’ survey closes on Friday 24 December, 5pm, so please spare a minute (literally!) to fill it out if you haven’t already done so.  It gives you immediate feedback on your score, which is based on how you’ve felt over the last 2 weeks, and it helps us measure the ongoing wellbeing of the Southern Lakes communities. Survey link and more info here

Carers Education Day - We recently hosted a session for those caring for older people and those working in aged care and the social service areas. The aim was to better understand and support the older people in our community and we’re grateful to our speakers who covered topics including wellbeing, dementia, Enduring Power of Attorney, cognitive stimulation therapy, support groups, and free St John shuttles. Thanks to the Wakatipu Senior Citizens Assoc for hosting us and to our Mental Wellbeing Navigator Lisa Gear for organising the day.

Mental toughness event: A huge thanks also to the 91 people who attended the recent Mental Toughness sessions in Queenstown and to Tony Groves from HALO Training for offering these sessions for free to help our community.  If you missed out this time, we’ll share details of more sessions in the new year. 

Partner programmes

Summerdaze – Te Hau Toka is supporting Summerdaze, a collection of events and games across the district this summer which aim to encourage locals and visitors to connect, have fun outdoors and get to know people in their community. You can also sign up to the Summerdaze Games - a local scavenger hunt game played via the 'GooseChase' app. To play, simply download the app, search for ‘Summerdaze Games’ and create your team or compete solo! There are new missions to complete every day and you can earn points and win prizes. There’s also a Community Activation Pack filled with items and games that Community Associations and neighbourhoods can book and use to host gatherings from January 2022. 

Workplace wellbeing - How can your organisation boost its wellbeing? These 3 free webinars provide tools and knowledge to create workplace cultures that promote positive mental wellbeing. In particular, they offer practical tips on how to prioritise workplace wellbeing at individual, team and organisational levels.    

Mental Health 101 workshop reminders:

• Thursday 27 January at The Gate, Cromwell (9am-4.30pm).  Register here.
• Monday 31 January at the Distinction Luxmore, Te Anau (9am-4.30pm).  Register here.
• Tuesday 1 February at the Heritage Hotel, Queenstown (9am-4.30pm). Register here.

GoodYarn small business workshops: Destination Queenstown has partnered with the Southern Wellbeing Trust to roll out GoodYarn, an award-winning, peer-delivered mental wellbeing programme to support the local small business community, in particular those in tourism, accommodation, and retail. Early registrations are now open for Queenstown-based businesses with 1-50 employees who are interested in taking part when the programme kicks off in late January 2022. Register here.  For more information, email: workshops@southernwellbeingtrust.org.

PADA professional development seminar – Do you support families affected by anxiety or depression related to pregnancy, childbirth and early parenthood? Register your interest in a PADA-run professional development seminar in Queenstown on 24 March. The seminar helps participants to better understand how these topics impact families, and strengthen their knowledge and skills to help improve perinatal outcomes.

Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū Ia! (Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!)

Kā mihi nui,

Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group

Find out more about the Te Hau Toka Southern Lakes Wellbeing Group and follow us on Facebook for regional health/wellbeing news and tips.