The inaugural MET Gala for mental health has been labelled a success by organisers with more than $90,000 raised for free counselling sessions in Nelson Tasman.
Glitter and glam took over at The Rutherford Hotel on Saturday 10 September for the I Am Hope fundraiser.
Organiser Taryn Beattie says more than $27,000 was raised in auction and raffles alone, but the final tally of more than $90,000 is more than she could have hoped for.
“It was amazing, it went really well.”
She says every $1000 raised will provide 10 free counselling sessions in Nelson Tasman.
She initially said it would be “awesome” if the event could hit between 700 and 800 free sessions for youth in the region.
This has now become a reality, but Taryn says unfortunately the region has one of the worst uptakes of free counselling in the entire country.
She encourages youth to reach out if they need someone to talk to by going to www.gumbootfriday.org.nz/get-a-counsellor, a confidential way to get free help.
Taryn 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 and with Mental Health Awareness Week next week, she hopes they will see a wider uptake of the free service in Nelson Tasman.
