The inaugural MET Gala for mental health has been labelled a success by organisers.
Glitter and glam took over at The Rutherford Hotel on Saturday evening for the I Am Hope fundraiser.
Organiser Taryn Beatties says more than $27,000 was raised in auction and raffles alone, but a final figure for the evening had not yet been reached.
“It was amazing, it went really well.”
She says every $1000 raised will provide 10 free counselling sessions in Nelson Tasman.
“It would be awesome if we could hit between 700 and 800 free sessions.”
She says key speaker and I Am Hope founder Mike King really “bought home” to the crowd, the difference they can make in young people’s lives.
“Mike really hit home to people talking about youth and the communications we can have with them, to see 250 people actively engaged and them being able to pass that on is great.”
The event was originally planned to run this time last year, but two postponements due to Covid delayed the event.
Taryn says it ended up coinciding with World Suicide Day on Saturday.
