GoodYarn helping Kaitāia company ahead of Mental Health Awareness Week

The team from Kiwi Carpentry, in Kaitāia, who have completed GoodYarn, a workplace mental health awareness programme

With Mental Health Awareness Week fast approaching, a Kaitāia company is doing its bit by putting its staff through a workplace mental health awareness programme

“Community is … what we create together” is the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW), and it’s certainly true for Kaitāia building and joinery company Kiwi Carpentry.

The family-owned and operated business has been nailing it in the Far North for well over a decade, and recently their small team of staff completed GoodYarn, a workplace mental health awareness programme that is transforming lives across the motu.

Delivered by Education Unlimited Director Tina Rose, the workshop boosts mental health literacy in the workplace by improving awareness of the signs and symptoms of mental health problems and encouraging people to talk more openly about it. For the tightknit team at Kiwi Carpentry, it has been a game changer.

“There has been a real culture shift since doing the workshop,” Catherine Erskine, who owns the business with partner Andrew Bennie and his father Rob, said.

“Our team is more supportive, people are feeling more comfortable to talk about things and we’re being more vulnerable with each other. It has opened up the kōrero.

“Recently one of our workers was worried about a co-worker and because of GoodYarn, she took it upon herself to go around to their house and check in on them, and it was a really good thing she did. Talking to people about their mental health is not always a comfortable thing, and you’re not sure you’re going to get it right – but you never know what support you could give to a person that could save them. In my experience of reaching out to a few staff members it has been very helpful, even lifechanging for some.”

So far the two-and-a-half-hour GoodYarn workshop has been delivered to more than 19,000 workers nationwide across a range of industries, equipping a growing number of people with the skills and confidence to talk about mental health.

When Erskine first found out about the programme, she said signing up the Kiwi Carpentry workforce was a no-brainer.

“All of us could do with more information about mental wellbeing. Even if you don’t think you’re battling yourself, it can help you recognise others who are struggling. The workshop was absolutely inspiring, motivating and informative, and it gave me newfound confidence in terms of starting the mental health conversation,’’ she said.

“It encouraged me to talk to people that I’d been wondering about checking in with but didn’t quite know how, and it also gave us resources and tools to seek further help.”

These conversations are critical, especially in the construction sector, which has higher than average rates of depression and anxiety, and the highest suicide rate of all New Zealand industries, with 6.9% of working-age male suicides.

“My biggest takeaway was the importance of being there for each other – noticing if our work buddies are not themselves and then actually doing something about it. Sometimes we might notice, but don’t ask if people are okay because we don’t know how. GoodYarn gave us the skills to start the conversation,” Erskine said.

Find out more at: https://www.goodyarn.org/

Mental Health Awareness Week runs from September 23-29.

SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION

Where to get help:

• Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP) (available 24/7) • Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO) (available 24/7) • Youth services: (06) 3555 906• Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234 • What’s Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm) • Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202 (available 24/7) • Helpline: Need to talk? Call or text 1737 • Aoake te Rā (Bereaved by Suicide Service): Call 0800 000 053

If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.