Dunedin woman Kelly Macknight is the founder and general manager of Be Heard, a soon-to-be-launched free counselling service for primary and intermediate school-aged children in the city.
Mrs Macknight, who gave up fulltime work six years ago — formerly part of the senior leadership team at AD Instruments — is funding the service herself at this stage, saying there was a need for it. Funding applications would be made.
The mother-of-two was concerned most primary and intermediate schools did not have counsellors for children to talk to, and waiting lists for referrals to other agencies were significant.
Children did not always share concerns with their parents, or want to raise an issue with them.
Alternatively, they might wish to speak about something that happened at home.
"There’s nowhere for them to go if something happens, if they need just talk to somebody ... that they can get into quickly."
Mrs Macknight started working with principals and teachers she knew about nine months ago and educators she talked to agreed there was a need.
"I knew there was a need but needed to do the research to validate what I’m doing," she said.
Be Heard operated as a not-for-profit organisation and, by making it free for families and schools, it removed barriers.
As well as herself, she had two people on the board; an educator and someone experienced with not-for-profits.
Be Heard was now advertising for counsellors and the plan was to ideally start with two, which meant the service could be offered in 10 schools.
She was conscious of making it manageable initially "so we can offer a good service ... and see where it takes us from there".
Covid-19 had a huge impact on children, mostly around social aspects and the fact they had time off school and had been unable to interact with others.
"There was so much fear around just going out," she said.
Mrs Macknight believed some children might need only one or two sessions, while if there was a more serious issue to deal with, it might be referred to another agency.
Schools were having to deal with things that teachers were not trained for and that was putting them under more pressure, while children should not be afraid of asking for help.
By tackling an issue or concern at a young age, it would hopefully make a difference and stop a "domino effect".
At a time when so many things were happening in people’s lives that they could not control, this was one thing that could be controlled.
"To quote [mental health campaigner] Mike King, ‘we have to do something’," she said.
Mrs Macknight said her own traumatic event that she had to deal with had opened her eyes "to a lot of things".
Doing the likes of volunteering while working through that had helped her, she said.
The response from schools she had spoken to had been "hugely supportive" and schools would be asked for expressions of interest in the next few weeks. It was hoped to start in term two.
Counsellors would work with Mrs Macknight to develop it.
"They are the ones with the knowledge and experience. I know how to run a business, not to counsel kids."
