22 Aug Supporting mental health among young Northlanders
The Te Tai Tokerau Tamariki Mental Wellbeing Project addresses a concerning rise in children’s mental illness. It’s a programme of activity that has long been supported by Rotary International and local Rotary clubs.
In recent years the project provided an Emotional Regulation programme, called Think and Be Me, to 60 schools across Te Tai Tokerau. The Think and Be Me programme was founded by children’s mental wellbeing educator, Cat Levine, alongside a team of experts, and is designed to support the long-term emotional wellbeing of children.
Informed by research, the programme is underpinned by Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles to bring proven mental wellbeing coping skills out of the counselling rooms, and into the classroom.
Using a strengths-based approach, students are equipped with the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes to manage their emotions in healthy ways, and develop resilience and coping skills.
In 2021 we joined with our client, Inlet Estate, to support the Tai Tokerau Tamariki Mental Wellbeing Project financially. Inlet Estate owner Keith Day is an extremely active Rotarian and we were pleased to be able to complement his considerable efforts towards the project. We diverted an incentive payment, made to us as part of our contract with Inlet Estate, to the project – and added, just for good measure, a further 50 percent of the value of the incentive payment.
We think that the work the Trust is doing to enhance the lives of Northland children, and strengthen their resilience, is definitely worthy of support. And we look forward to many years of continued association.