ROTARY TE TAI TOKERAU TAMARIKI MENTAL WELLBEING PROJECT. A silent epidemic is having a devastating impact on New Zealand’s young. Thousands of young people are affected by mental health issues – anxiety, depression, or ADHD. One in four Kiwi kids will experience a mental health issue before the age of 18, fifty percent by the age of 12. It took one woman with an idea and Rotary to provide a lifeline.

Article written by Bernadette Horrell, District & Disaster Response Grant Officer, Rotary International South Pacific and Philippines Office (RISPPO), Sydney

Article originally published in the RISPPO Regional Bulletin March 2022 and reprinted with the permission of Grace Ramirez, Manager, International Office and Financial Services, RISPPO

In March 2020, Cat Levine was accompanying Mike King, a New Zealand Mental Health advocate, on the Great NZ Tractor Trek which travelled the length of the country raising funds for Hospices in New Zealand. Whilst Mike was talking to farmers, Cat went into the schools and spoke to teachers and children. In 2021, Cat and a team of 20 tractors took to the road again, this time in Northland, as part of the Feelings for Life School Tour. Talking at schools about recognising and managing anxiety, anger and emotional literacy issues in their students.

Every teacher who heard her speak asked her for more information. She gave up her day job to go into schools and talk to teachers but demand outstripped supply. How was one person going to reach every child in the multi-island country? Cate’s family friend Rod Kestle, Past President of the Rotary Club of Onehunga One Tree Hill, recognised the merit of the project and initiated a Global Grant through his Rotary District. District 9910 agreed to support Cat and the Rotary Te Tai Tokerau Tamariki Mental Wellbeing Project was initiated with an approved Rotary Foundation Global Grant of NZ600,000. Feelings For Life is the charity associated with Rotary’s Te Tai Tokerau Tamariki Mental Wellbeing Project.

Mental health is particularly prevalent in Northland and this is where District 9910’s Global Grant will be initiated. The Project will be spread over three years. The first year lays the groundwork with the design of training content and materials, bookings, setting objectives, and hypotheses. Cat has packaged her popular brand of school presentations into a learning program that is available online and in person. This program will provide others with the tools used to recognize and address emotional issues in children. Training will begin in the second year, with 450 teachers and 60 schools already signed up. The training will teach them how to use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) to assist young people to deal with anxiety, anger, and emotional regulation.

During the third year, training will continue in more schools, and academic research will measure the impact on the community. By end of school year 2024, the program will have connected with 9,000 primary school pupils and will have provided them with the knowledge to ‘change what you think’. Teachers and countless care providers will be given a mental health toolbox to create a sustainable mental well-being program. Once established its success will attract support and funding from Government.

This project is sustainable as the information can be freely shared among teaching staff and parents. If successful, the Rotary Te Tai Tokerau Tamariki Mental Wellbeing Project will be rolled out throughout the country. It is an inspired idea that, with the support of Rotary, will improve children’s’ mental health by providing them with the tools they need to address issues and help them to meet their full potential. The Rotary Foundation Global Grant will assist Cat to take her “Think and Be Me” program to all schools in Northland.