Mental health advocate Mike King is encouraging people to wear gumboots to raise funds for free counselling for young New Zealanders this Friday.

Mike has also joined the board of a Bay of Plenty based initiative, Bring People Dancing, which supports young people all over Aotearoa who need support, by connecting them with a community network via sporting and music events.

On Friday, Mike is walking 100km in gumboots in 24 hours to raise $100,000 for free counselling for kids, which is arranged by his I Am Hope charity.

All of funds raised by Gumboot Friday go towards the counselling.

According to I Am Hope, 15 per cent of the young New Zealanders who have already accessed free counselling via Gumboot Friday for the 20/21 period, live in the Bay of Plenty.

Mike says there is an 'absolute crisis in the response to young people's mental health”.

He is 'disappointed and frustrated with the lack of support from the Ministry of Health who will not provide critical funding for young people's free counselling in NZ which his organisation has been providing, while referring mental health clients to them because they cannot meet their needs”.

'The Ministry of Health is taking the route of apps to support young people, but there is much evidence to show that face to face counselling achieves far better results.”

According to provisional suicide statistics provided by District Health Boards, in the Bay of Plenty region, 36 people took their own lives in the 2019/20 period.

According to annual provisional suicide figures overall for the year to 30 June 2020, there was actually a decrease in the number of young people dying by suspected suicide, particularly in the 15 -19 range (down from 73 to 59) and the 20-24 age range (down from 91 to 60).

There was a decrease in the number of young people dying by suspected suicide, particularly in the 15-19 age range (down from 73 to 59) and the 20-24 age range (down from 91 to 60).

Mike King. Supplied photo.

However, Mike says that it is because in lockdowns, there was more talk around mental health so people didn't feel so alone.

'Sadly what we are seeing now after lockdown, there are more people in crisis than ever. New Zealand still has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world.”

The Covid-19 pandemic is adding to the need for support for young people, particularly in the age group of 15 to 24 years.

An OECD report release on May 12 stated that 'the Covid-19 pandemic has turned into a mental health crisis for young people”.

Another report, Loneliness in New Zealand, 2020, highlights the impact of the pandemic on young people.

The report found that prolonged loneliness among young people rose from 5.8 per cent before the crisis, to 20.8 per cent during the lockdown, and decreased only slightly to 17.7 per cent in July 2020 after the lockdown ended.

This was the highest among all age groups.

The report also noted that previous mental health support for young people in schools, universities and workplaces has been heavily disrupted.

Bay of Plenty initiative

To support the mental health crisis in Aotearoa's youth, a Tauranga-based organisation has joined forces with Mike King to support people living with mental illness by involving them in music and sporting events.

The organisation - Bring People Dancing - funds people to attend live music or sporting events, to not only give them a break when they are going through a difficult time, but also help them establish connections with others via a buddy network.

Mike King says it is a great initiative because it tackles the very heart of mental health.

'The biggest problem in our country in mental health is not depression or anxiety, it is lack of connection. Anything we can do to connect people and get them talking is a good thing. Music and sport, they bring people together.”

The organisation was started by chart-topping singer Mitch James and his Bay of Plenty based close friend Mitch Lowe after the death of their best friend Callan Umbers - known affectionately as T-Stain - who had struggled with living with borderline personality disorder.

'T-Stain was so much loved by his family and friends, but lived in a society where people still view mental illness as a stigma, or weakness, or something to be ashamed or afraid of. We wanted to do what we could to help change those perceptions. Music is a universal language - it brings people together,” says Mitch James.

Callan Umbers. Supplied photo.

Bring People Dancing has already raised $62,000 in a fundraiser in Mount Maunganui late last year, with speakers including Mike King, Sir John Kirwan, as well as Tauranga mother Meg Russell who spoke about her son Brendan who died by suicide.

Mitch Lowe says this will become an annual event in the Bay to raise mental health awareness. The money is being used to pay for people's travel and accommodation to events in 2021, with tickets being donated by musicians.

People 'in need of a hand” are nominated through the organisation's website, then set up with a support person from a team of more than sixty volunteer ambassadors. Lowe says the team has been inundated with nominations, and is in the process of becoming a formal charity, with a board including Mike King and Tauranga-based entrepreneurs and philanthropists. Local musicians L.A.B have supported the organisation along with a host of other artists.

'The letters we get sent - I read every single one - brought home that there are so many people out there going through difficult times. We received hundreds of nominations and so far have taken 40 people on experiences including festivals like Bay Dreams, Soundsplash, L.A.B and Six60,” says Lowe.

Mitch James and Mitch Lowe. Photo: Jack Neale.

Lowe says Bring People Dancing is not just about giving people tickets to events to 'escape from reality”.

'Attending the events helps start conversations and show people that they are not alone, that there are so many people who care. The buddy system will help provide networks of support in the community.”

Anthony Hart - one of the nominees - says Bring People Dancing is 'changing lives”, not just for people battling mental health but by helping communities be more compassionate and understanding.

'It's big picture thinking and I love it, ”Anthony says of the event he attended.

'I felt like I could approach anyone...and talk about anything with them and I would be embraced, listened too and cared for. It was like nothing I have experienced before. Incredibly moving, laughing, crying and dancing.”

Lowe says that when border restrictions due to Covid-19 are relaxed, Bring People Dancing hopes to fund people to attend international music events.

In New Zealand, the organisation is already expanding to involve the nominees in other events as well as music.

'Our vision is to expand to Bring People Running, Bring People Surfing and more.”

The first of these events, Ultimate Athlete Obstacle Race, is being held in Mount Maunganui on 12 June.

Upcoming events which nominated people in need of support can attend

Ultimate Athlete Obstacle Race, Mount Maunganui, June 12

Ohakune Mardi Gras 2021, June 19

Queenstown Mardi Gras 2021, June 26

Drax Project, Mitch James and Acacia v Auckland, June 19

Wellington, June 26

Dunedin, July 2

Christchurch, July 3

Hamilton, July 24

Bay Dreams, Mount Maunganui, January 3 2022

Bay Dreams, Nelson, January 5 2022

Soundsplash Raglan, January 2022

How you can help

Visit www.bringpeopledancing.org to nominate people.

You can also purchase a Bring People Dancing T-shirt for yourself or send it to one of the nominees. 100 per cent of the funds go to the charity.