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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
www.guardianonline.co.nz
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Ngawaiata Williams chalks a positive message about mental health onto the pavement at the Let’s Chalk About Mental Health event in Ashburton on Saturday. PHOTO ERIN TASKER 310819-ET-0127
Chalk the talk By Linda Clark
linda.c@theguardian.co.nz
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The chessboard on East Street turned into a splash of colour over the weekend as people chalked positive messages about mental health onto the pavement. Co-organiser of the Let’s Chalk About Mental Health, Bec Sandys, said people came to talk, share their experiences and chalk their message. The chessboard and surrounding areas were awash with colour by the afternoon’s end. The event was part of a global campaign as New Zealand kicks off Suicide Awareness Month. “People were sharing their experiences, some were sitting on the side reflecting and some people came with family to write a message of love for someone
who had passed on. Others spoke about their experiences and reached out and got through it.” One of the guest speakers was Timaru mother Michelle Cogger, whose son Ryan committed suicide four years ago. She is organising a Walk for Hope in Timaru on September 15 to help spread a message of hope. Sandys said the chalk event in Ashburton attracted people of all ages, from youth to the elderly, and it has spurred her to look for other ways to keep people connected when they need it most. Representatives of other organisations, including He Waka Tapu and Safer Ashburton, were also present, talking with people and sharing information about their services. Sandys, a comedian, said she hoped
the chalk event would become an annual one and she was also investing the possibility of workshops using comedy as a buffer to talk about mental health to youth people. Fellow organiser Ngawaiata Williams said prior to the event that the culture of not talking about suicide had its own downfalls for those who had gone through such trauma, and she hoped Let’s Chalk About Mental Health would help promote messages of wellbeing while providing a forum for those who needed to talk.
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