Event raises awareness, creates ‘sense of hope’

Participants are encouraged to wear yellow while taking part in the Laps for Life event on Sunday, April 14. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

A new event aims to raise awareness for mental health and suicide prevention while creating a "sense of hope and resilience".

Laps for Life is an all-day event on Sunday, April 14, where people will run, walk or jog around a 400m loop at the Alhambra Rugby Club North Ground.

People of all ages and abilities are encouraged to dress in yellow and participate.

The aim is for the collective laps to add up to 365km, representing 1km for every day of new possibilities in a year.

Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust peer supporter Tai Davies came up with the idea.

He said the aim of the day was to create an event that could bring the community together.

"And have that sense of hope and resilience and possibilities for people in mental distress."

He was inspired to become a peer supporter after the experience of his brother, who spent four years "in and out" of mental health hospitals.

His brother was playing high-level rugby, but "ended up spiralling out" after experiencing injuries and taking the opioid pain medication tramadol.

"He has bipolar [disorder] now."

Mr Davies thought there had been a gap in support for his brother within his sport.

"He just never had that support, which ended up spiralling him into that mental health hospital area."

While his brother was in a better condition now, the experience motivated Mr Davies to provide support for others to prevent something similar happening.

Alongside providing peer support on a part-time basis, Mr Davies is studying psychology and sports management at the University of Otago.

"So that is where I’m trying to delve into the sports psychology side of things."

A contract with Te Whatu Ora Southern has enabled the trust to expand its service to operate from Tuesday to Sunday, as well as stay open until 9pm every night besides Tuesday.

Life Matters peer supporter Tai Davies aims to highlight mental health issues in sport. PHOTO: SIMON HENDERSON

The trust has also been able to recruit more peer supporters, such as Sophie Duff, who has been working with the trust for about six months.

Her role includes meeting people who visit the Hope Centre Te Whare Tūmanako.

"They may be experiencing some mental distress, or feeling overwhelmed, or may be seeking support for someone they know.

"We use the intentional peer support model, which focuses on connection, on mutuality, on world view and on moving forward."

The aim was to see the person as a whole and make connections with them.

"We highlight the connection between both the peer supporter and the person seeking help."

Co-general manager Clare Curran said the trust was proud of their peer supporters, who had undergone an "awful lot" of training.

"It is just wonderful to watch the service grow and to watch them grow in their roles."

The trust is also planning a 10th anniversary celebration next month.

Trust founding member and co-general manager Corinda Taylor established what would become the trust in her garage after her 20-year-old son Ross committed suicide in 2013.

She credited starting the group as helping occupy her mind during her time of grief.

"I had to make some sense of this in a positive way, because I certainly couldn’t make sense of it otherwise.

"I thought ‘I don’t want another family to go through what we’ve been through, or another person like Ross to go through what he had gone through’.

"There was a need for it, I needed to connect with others.

"And others needed to connect with each other, because the support wasn’t there."

- To acknowledge its 10th anniversary, on April 6, from 1pm to 3pm, the trust will be opening up its premises at the Hope Centre, Hanover St, to the public.