Mullets and cookies come together as Rotorua family get behind mental health campaign

Having her own custom cookies business - Okie Doughkie - Stacey baked cookies promoting the campaign. Photo / Supplied

The power of the mullet was recently unleashed throughout Aotearoa in a campaign for the Mental Health Foundation, and a Rotorua family were quick and keen to help out the cause.

In late January, the Mental Health Foundation issued a challenge for people in Aotearoa to grow a mullet and use it to make a statement for mental health.

More than 800 people took up the challenge, and on March 20 — International Day of Happiness — people shaped, dyed and/or cut their hair into a mullet and let them loose.

The Mullet Matters campaign is more than a nod to the iconic short-at-the-sides, long-at-the-back hairstyle, and was about using the bold haircut as a conversation starter to get people talking about mental health.

Rotorua’s Stacey Brell and her fiance Anaru Selwyn got behind the cause for the foundation.

Mental health awareness and resource support is an important cause for them and their family because Stacey’s 20-year-old son has a diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder.

Anaru grew a mullet and had a fundraising page. Having her own custom cookies business — Okie Doughkie — Stacey baked cookies promoting the campaign, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the cause.

Stacey says they thought it would be good to jump on board, and raised more than $1400 through these avenues during March.

She says from their experience, they have seen a need for better resources and more awareness. “Going through it ourselves, there have been times where we’ve felt there needs to be more awareness.”

Stacey says they are still pretty new to learning about bipolar affective disorder.

“It is a really heartbreaking illness to watch someone go through. Supporting them and loving them through it really does help a lot.

“I feel that having a great support system really helps them come out the other side a lot faster.”

Stacey says her son has always been quite musical, writing and recording his own music.

“Recently, he has made quite a few songs about what he has been through and his story. I think it’s a good way for him to get everything, his feelings, out. It’s a good release for him and his way of talking about what he’s been through.”

As of Tuesday, April 18, the total raised from the Mullet Matters campaign was $129,881, which will be able to fund 425,000 vital resources.

This will go towards helping to cover the $300,000 annual shortfall of the Mental Health Foundation’s resource and information service.

The service distributes almost a million free mental health resources around the motu every year — including booklets, pamphlets, posters and website downloads — covering topics such as suicide prevention, workplace wellbeing, depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, suicide loss, and more.

For more information, resources, and points on contact go to mentalhealth.org.nz.