RETHiNK Grant

The RETHiNK Grant has $15 000 to give away to innovative projects that will help Aucklanders better understand and accept people with experience of mental-health problems.

The Grant is all part of the national Like Minds, Like Mine campaign to reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with ‘mental illness’. Many people are familiar with the John Kirwan ads on TV, but, as the RETHiNK Grant shows, the Like Minds project is a whole lot more than a series of television advertisements. 

The 2011 RETHiNK Grant campaign asks Aucklanders to ‘Step Up’ and be part of positive social change. Mental disorder affects almost half of the New Zealand population in their life-times, so pretty much all of us will have a friend, colleague or whanau member who is faced with the challenges it presents. Stigma and discrimination are the largest barriers to recovery, preventing people from speaking about it or accessing treatment and support. The RETHiNK Grant creates real opportunities for people to use their own talents and passions to contribute to breaking down these barriers. Applications for the 2011 RETHiNK Grant open on February the 1st 2011.

Mental Health Promoter and poet, Miriam Barr, says “this is an exciting way for creative Aucklanders to use their talents to make a difference and access funding to get their projects off the ground.”

Last year’s RETHiNK Grant winners produced the International RETHiNK Theatre Challenge, the RETHiNK Ethosphere T-shirt design competition and the RETHiNK What’s On Your Plate community art project. Previous recipients have included C Stand-up comedy show, poetry anthologies and calendar projects. The Like Minds team at Mind and Body Consultants is now on the hunt for more winning projects from all areas of Auckland that will promote community participation and understanding.

http://www.rethinkgrant.co.nz