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Gumboot Friday, for the essential I Am Hope charity, has become a fun annual event for a serious cause and east Aucklanders are once again supporting it with positive actions. This November 7, Gumboot Friday is celebrating an important milestone – more than $20 million being spent on free counselling sessions for young New Zealanders with mental health issues since 2019. Mental health advocate and I Am Hope founder Mike King says the yearly Gumboot Friday fundraiser has assisted in delivering more than 137,000 therapy sessions to “rangatahi and tamariki across Aotearoa – every single one made possible through the generosity of New Zealanders”. “While the charity began receiving Government funding only last year, Gumboot Friday continues to rely heavily on public donations to keep its service running. “Every dollar raised helps ensure no young person is ever turned away, and they can access help when they need it most, not months down the track,” King says. “The numbers speak for themselves – $20m, 137,000 sessions, and countless young lives given hope. That’s what matters. “We’ll keep showing up, keep delivering, and keep fighting for our kids until the system catches up.” Howick’s Richie Barnett, partnership manager for the I Am Hope Foundation, says: “Every young person needs someone who sees them, hears them, believes them. “You don’t need to have the answers. You just need someone who will listen – without judgement. “Real strength isn’t being tough. It’s asking for help when life gets heavy. “Life gets muddy. Gumboot Friday helps kids walk through it. When we stand together, darkness gets smaller.” Paradice ice rinks at Botany and Avondale are holding “a night of skating, fun, and community spirit” in support of I Am Hope on Friday, November 14, says Sarah Blong, its sales and marketing manager. Entry is $19 a person and “$1 from every skater will be donated to Gumboot Friday to help provide free counselling for young people”. “Get involved in the fun. We’ll have a gumboot throwing competition on ice – test your aim and win prizes.” Participants can also get a picture taken in the photo booth “in your best blue outfit or with your favourite gumboots, while on the skater wall of hope, write a message of encouragement or support for mental health awareness”, says Blong. King says: “Gumboot Friday has become one of New Zealand’s most recognisable awareness and fundraising events – a nationwide moment of unity, community and action. “Schools, workplaces and communities across the country don their gumboots, donate a gold coin, and raise funds so young people aged five to 25 can access free, immediate counselling. “For many of those young people, that single counselling session can be life changing. “Behind every dollar donated is a story of someone choosing to walk through the mud with our kids, not past them,” King says.
