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SUMMER 2011
InTouch Keeping our supporters involved
On ya bike! A Kiwi bike ride like no other
Twenty seven days, 2500km, all weathers,
sore bums and aching arms - this Bluff to
Cape Reinga bike ride will challenge its
riders as much as they hope to challenge all
New Zealanders.
Ride Out of the Blue is an adventure that
will see participants not only raising funds
for the Mental Health Foundation, but also
raising awareness and initiating discussions
around mental health, specifically
depression, in the communities they visit.
Beginning in Bluff on 5 March and ending
27 long days later way up at the top of the
country on 31 March, this grueling event is
being organised by Foundation supporter
Alison Blyth.
Alison wants to do it to ‘celebrate life’. And
she has plenty of reason.
Depression a key risk factor for Queensland’s torrential rain stopped training and inundated Alison’s Brisbane home.
suicide
depression can be a key risk factor for “I have experienced depression and
Following the suicide of two of her family
suicide in young people. understand how it can affect someone’s
members, Alison decided to do something
life,” Alison says.
to help raise awareness about depression. So, motivated by the deaths of her family
members, her own experience of depression “I was blessed to have amazing support to
She had learnt when someone is affected
and driven by her passion for cycling, the help me through it. This experience makes me
by depression or mood disorders they can
half-Kiwi, half-Aussie mother and lawyer feel that I need to ‘pay it back’... by organising
be at higher risk of suicide. She also learnt
dreamt up Ride Out of the Blue. this ride to raise awareness, others might get
the help that was there for me.”
Alison’s Ride Out of the Blue companions include from left - Hazel Edmonds, Dave Glossop & Chris McKelvey.
InTouch SUMMER 2011
“Campaigns like this will bring knowledge Specialist skills asset to
and support that will save lives and Foundation – and to the
improve the lives of individuals and their public
families.” – Dave Glossop, Rider Six years ago, when Russell Tuffery took up his position with the
Mental Health Foundation he had little idea what he was letting
himself in for.
Event open to everyone
Russell is a full time research librarian and information specialist
The event includes people who will ride either the entire
at the Foundation, working with the team that runs the
challenge or individual legs. To date, three others have
Resource & Information Service (RIS), including a library that is
committed to joining Alison for the entire challenge.
open to the public at the Foundation’s Auckland office.
Hazel Edmonds initially became interested in the Ride Out of
Coming from a library background, he had no workplace
the Blue after hearing about it from Alison’s father. A mother
experience in the fields of mental health and suicide prevention
and grandmother, Hazel is a keen runner, cyclist and tri-
– but is now an information specialist in both.
athlete who is never shy of a challenge. Having experienced
depression herself, and also losing family members to suicide, Russell had to learn how to find his way quickly to the best
she decided to join Alison in the hope the ride will make a real information possible to help the people who daily ring and
difference to people with experience of depression. email their many and varied questions to the RIS. He believes it
is his, now broad, knowledge of what is available, and his ability
Kiwi born and raised, Chris McKelvey is a lawyer who
to give the right information that proves his worth, and that of
now lives and works in Brisbane. He is a fan of outdoor
his role, to the organisation.
activities and sees Ride Out of the Blue as a way to return
to his homeland and support the work of the Mental Health A common misconception is that the Foundation provides
Foundation, specifically work with a focus on men’s health. counselling and access to clinicians. Russell often has to explain
to callers that this is not the case.
Dave Glossop is a detective senior sergeant based in Counties
Manukau. He’s a self-confessed cycle obsessive, and his “We do not have clinical staff, we have no patients. Rather this
motivation to take part comes from the desire to see mental is the place to come for information on where to find those
health continue to be an issue that can be openly discussed. people or organisations who do work directly with people
experiencing mental illness, and often their family and friends,
Spreading the five winning ways message either in a clinical or supporting role.”
As Alison and her fellow cyclists progress up the country, they Another challenge is when people have lost faith in their
will be looking for opportunities to participate in community doctors or health services.
events that encourage discussion about mental health and
highlight the five winning ways to wellbeing. “There are no easy answers, I can suggest support
organisations, but I usually say ‘well don’t give up, try another
At each stop, the riders will also be collecting donations for doctor or try to explain things to your doctor. Assert your rights’.
the Foundation, with all money raised going towards the It’s challenging to find solutions and often there don’t seem to
continuation of our free nationwide information service, be any. I just try to suggest alternatives.”
our work towards eliminating the stigma and discrimination
associated with mental illness and equipping people with He says it’s not like giving simple advice about buying a car tyre,
ways of maintaining their mental health and wellbeing. where people are only looking for a good price – it’s hard for
people out there.
Contact us
And the rewarding aspects of his job? Russell says he gets a
For more information please visit www.rideoutoftheblue.com real sense of satisfaction from helping someone; it gives him
and the rest of the team a lot of pleasure. He says one of the
best feedbacks he has had was from someone who had come
into the library for help and who emailed him later to say how
grateful she was, even calling him fabulous.
“It was a bit over the top, but it was great to hear it.”
Negative feedback is few and far between, but can emerge
when a caller is feeling hopeless. After doing all he can for
them, he often just has to ‘let it go’ in such situations.
To sustain his own mental health and wellbeing in this role,
Don’t forget you can become a fan of the Mental Health Russell says that over the years he has learnt ways of coping
Foundation on Facebook or follow us on Twitter that work for him.
www.facebook.com/mentalhealthfoundationNZ “We talk it over with our colleagues afterwards; we each have
a little desk bell, too, we can ring when a call gets tough. This
www.twitter.com/mentalhealthnz
means we need quiet on the floor, and possibly help. Exercise is
a great cure all, it’s my big 2011 resolution, I’m working on it!
InTouch SUMMER 2011
“I think as my confidence has grown in the role, this has been
my saving grace – and the positive feedback is a big reward.” There IS life beyond pain
In the vein of positive feedback, Russell acknowledges the Fraser Bayley wants people to know that there is life beyond
valued contribution to suicide prevention by his manager pain.
Merryn Statham, who leaves the Foundation this month after
After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and experiencing
nine years as Director of the Foundation’s suicide prevention
depression and anxiety, Fraser attempted to take his own life.
programme – he wishes her well.
“It was a day that is burned into my memory forever; a
Resource & Information Service defining moment in time that told me it wasn’t my time and
Russell thinks the key thing for people to know about the RIS is that I had so much to do with this life,” Fraser recalls.
that its resources and services exist, physically and online, and With a renewed passion for life, Fraser has decided to take
that they are free. on a challenge like no other. Using a 45⁰ incline leg press, he
The service is funded through a mix of Ministry of Health will attempt to set the world record for the most amount of
funding and Foundation fundraising income and provides a weight lifted over a 24-hour period.
free service nationwide to anyone wanting mental health He and his team will also be using the record attempt as a
information. way to raise funds and awareness of mental health within
Its library has a range of special New Zealand – with the ambitious target of raising $100,000
stand-alone collections, computers for the Foundation!
to help with research, facilities for So, we encourage you to either visit Fraser’s Fundraise
viewing a range of mental health Online page - http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/fraserbayley/
videos and DVDs, and plenty of study to donate or head down to Auckland’s Browns Bay Beach
space. between 6pm 5 March and 6pm 6 March to donate and give
The Foundation website contains Fraser your encouragement.
a wealth of information on mental For more information visit
health topics and includes an online http://www.lifebeyondpain.co.nz/
library catalogue search and events
calendar, and a shop for ordering free Russell Tuffery, MHF
brochures and resources. research librarian.
Bequests are vital to our
success
Our most grateful thanks go out to those who have remembered
us in their Will. Bequests, large and small, are an important source
of income and a vital support for our work with families, whanau
and friends with experience of mental illness.
For further information on Bequest Giving, please contact Anne
Wright, who will discuss your wishes with complete confidentiality.
Fraser Bayley - putting himself out there to help others.
Ph: 300 7014, email: anne@mentalhealth.org.nz or visit -
http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/page/90-bequests
Limbering up for the 2011 Great Lake Relay
They’re losing weight, going to the gym and pounding the streets Funds raised will help us
in preparation for the New Balance 16th Great Lake Relay. Yes, the provide free information,
Foundation’s ‘Mates’ and ‘Celebrity Mates’ are putting heart and soul resources and training on
into this energetic fundraiser. mental health issues and
promote mental health
On 19 February participants will run one of the world’s most scenic
and wellbeing for all age
courses, around Lake Taupo, while raising money for the Mental
groups, communities and
Health Foundation. They will also be in with a chance to win prizes
individuals.
including t-shirts, restaurant and accommodation vouchers and gym
memberships. We would like to thank
Murray Fleming of Event
Individual runners and teams have built their own online fundraising
Promotions for giving us the opportunity to raise funds from this
page via Fundraise Online – here you can see their fundraising
great event.
progress and leave messages of encouragement. You can also register
your own team! For more information visit http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/
fundraise/allathletes.aspx?e=625&c=20
InTouch SUMMER 2011
Junk2Funk 2011/2012 Entertainment Books now
Junk2Funk is
the brainchild
available – help us to be NZ’s top
of Christchurch
based mother
seller!
of two, Wendy Purchase the new season’s discount book and help the Foundation get to Number One
Quigley. Entertainment Book Seller for New Zealand!
Wendy was We are currently in the top five sellers of the book – thanks to our fabulous supporters
diagnosed – and we know we can get to the top with your assistance.
with rapid
Not only will we reap the kudos from that, but we’ll raise much needed funds for our
cycle bipolar
work, and YOU will enjoy valuable offers for the things you like to do every day.
following
the birth of her daughter in 2005. What The now hugely popular Entertainment Book is a local restaurant and activity guide,
followed was 14 months in and out of which provides 25% to 50% off, and 2-for-1 offers, from restaurants, cafes, activities
hospital, many medication trials and electro- and accommodation throughout New Zealand. Localised editions are available for
convulsive therapy, but in the end it was all Auckland, Waikato & Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
worth it as Wendy began to rebuild her life.
The latest Entertainment Books are available for presales from now until 31 March,
“I started painting then making funky art out distributed in early April (Christchurch mid May) and valid until 1 June 2012. When
of junk, which is how my business got its you pre purchase you will receive an extra sheet of bonus vouchers from businesses
name, Junk2Funk,” Wendy explains. new to the book this year.
“During one of my bipolar moments, I came Pre-purchase your copies online -
up with the idea of printing some t-shirts http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/shop/listing/view/13/
with quotes that have a mental illness or email us at fundraising@mentalhealth.org.nz or,
theme, putting a positive spin on it, to be if you received your copy of InTouch in the mail,
proud of who we are and to get people post the enclosed Entertainment Book flyer to -
talking.” Mental Health Foundation, PO 10051 Dominion Rd,
Auckland 1446.
Wendy’s shirts are sold online, and
Junk2Funk has pledged $10 from the sale Costs
of each shirt (excluding those supporting
the Canterbury earthquake appeal) to the Auckland $65, plus $6 postage
Mental Health Foundation. Waikato, BOP $55, plus $6 postage
So head along to www.junk2funk.co.nz, pick Christchurch $65, plus $6 postage
yourself up a fantastic shirt and show your
support for the Mental Health Foundation. Dunedin $50, plus $6 postage
Contact Us
Contact Us
Ways to help
Mental Health Foundation
The vision of the Mental Health
PO Box 10051
Dominion Road Foundation is “a society where all
Auckland 1446 people flourish” and, to help us achieve
Tel: (09) 300 7010 this goal, we run a number of campaigns
and services that cover all aspects of
To make a donation – mental health and wellbeing.
Tel: (09) 300 7032
Email: fundraising@mentalhealth.org.nz Our programmes help a significant
Web: http://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/ number of New Zealanders each year
forms/show/donate-online/new/1/ and, as a registered charity, we rely
heavily on donations to enable us to
Library continue to work within the community.
Tel: (09) 300 7030
Email: resource@mentalhealth.org.nz There are a number of ways you can
help, from donating money or leaving
Our library is open to the public and money in your Will, to running special
located at 1st Floor, 81 New North Road others ways you can show your support,
fundraising events or asking friends
Eden Terrace, Auckland Hours: Mon-Fri, please visit www.mentalhealth.org.nz
and family to sponsor a walk or other
9am – 4.30pm and click on the Fundraising or Donate
personal challenge.
Now buttons.
www.mentalhealth.org.nz For more information on these and
InTouch SUMMER 2011
