Helping mental health

• Published date: 29 September 2022
• Publication title: Mountain Scene

Recognising the stresses created by COVID, Southern Wellbeing Trust delivered GoodYarn Community mental health workshops to 267 Queenstown and Wanaka people in a pilot programme that started in April last year and finished three months ago

Uniquely, 15 facilitators — community members with lived experience and relevant skills — delivered the three-hour workshops, in which attendees learnt about looking after their, and others’, mental health.

About half the attendees were from migrant groups.

Now, with funding from Te Hau Toka, the new Head Light Trust’s going to deliver 15 more workshops between next month and June next year.

These include a free workshop for anyone interested at the Frankton Library next Saturday, from 10.30am till 1.30pm — bookings via headlight.org.nz

The trust’s chief executive is Anna Dorsey, who co-founded Southern Wellbeing Trust.

‘‘I think there has been a bit of culture shift since COVID, and mental health is something we talk about now and there’s less stigma,’’ she says.

‘‘What we’ve just started is a conversation with lots of people who have now got a bit...