Happy Christmas - wishing you a peace filled holiday

End of year wrap up - Tina Jones, Co-founder & Director

Since our last update, we have endured over 100 days of lockdown in Auckland. While we understand the rationale behind the lockdowns, there is no escaping the fact that they intensify the challenges faced by our clients, the young people in our communities from the North Shore, across Rodney, the Hibiscus Coast and up to Warkworth.

Not only does life get harder for those we are already supporting, but also the number of those we support increases - to give you an idea: we are dealing with a 50% increase in clients over these last 4 months - with no increase in staff.

This results in a huge increase in counselling sessions needed for current and new clients. Our individualised one-on-one counselling is at the core of our proven Journey Back to Awesome programme, and we are currently averaging over 450 counselling hours a month, with a peak in September of over 600 hours.

This year, and especially through the weeks and months of lockdowns and restrictions, our clinical team and army of volunteers have dug deep to meet the challenge and adjust to a new way of working. Young people and their families have been supported through frequent phone or video check-ins, through contactless free sessions with a mental health professional, and through distributions of desperately needed donations of food and other essential items.

It is truly remarkable to be part of an organisation, energised by human kindness, and we are immensely proud of our achievements and the life changing impact we have had on the lives of young people and their families in our community.

Whilst a small number of counselling sessions are paid for or contributed to by the clients and their families, the vast majority - a whopping 97% - are provided at no cost. This is because our aim is to fund and deliver support to any client that comes to us, regardless of their financial situation. Simply put, we don't want money to be a barrier to young people getting the support they need, when they need it. It's hard enough to reach out for support.

We know our programme works and we want to be able to continue to offer our services free of charge, and to be able to pay our incredible counsellors for the tremendous work they do. Despite repeated high praise from mental health professionals at government agency level, the trust still does not receive government subsidies or funding. Which is why your support - as volunteers giving your time and expertise, sponsors, and donors of supplies and funds - is so vitally important.

We rely on you, and our young people rely on you. As we close 2021 and look forward to a brighter 2022, we want to say THANK YOU for all that you do.

THANK YOU for helping us help the young people in our communities.

THANK YOU for helping save lives and enabling our clients journey back to a life worth living.

Here is our Clinical Team taking some well-deserved time out to enjoy a Christmas Lunch. They would like to send a special thank you to all our supporters for helping us help as many young people as we do.