The I Am Hope Foundation is calling on farmers to support Gumboot Friday, an initiative that provides free counselling services for children, by donating a calf for the cause.

“Our Rural Champions can send their calves off to the sales yards with an ear tag that has a number and Gumboot Friday on it,” the foundation’s Michelle Cogger says.

“And then when they go to the sales yards, they just let their stock agent know that the proceeds from that sale go to Gumboot Friday.

“It’s that simple.”

The foundation was founded by Mike King in 2016 to provide mental health support to New Zealand’s youth and young people.

“Our goal is to foster a culture where society takes responsibility and actively supports our kids, enabling them to feel comfortable and empowered to ask for help should they require it.

“We strive to amplify their voices, listen to their needs, and create an environment where their thoughts and opinions are truly valued.”

It’s a small organisation that punches well above its weight in making a difference in the mental health space, she said.

“We are a team of 16; we are not a big charity.

“But we have four ambassadors that travel the length and breadth of New Zealand, going to all the primary schools.”

Gumboot Friday was an initiative started in 2019 to give children free, timely access to counselling services.

The counselling platform is available for anyone aged five to 25, and counsellors are available online or in person.

Since 2019, Gumboot Friday has provided 91,000 free counselling sessions.

“The public wait time to see a specialist could be anything from six months, eight months or two years.

“So we devised Gumboot Friday so children could be supported in the interim while waiting in the public system.”

The initiative received confirmation from the Government of funding of $24 million over four years in the recent budget, but with demand for the service growing, fundraising is still needed.

Gumboot Friday is held on the first Friday in November, with this year’s event falling on November 1.

While anyone can donate or fundraise for the organisation throughout the year, the annual event encourages people to put on their gumboots and have fun while raising funds.

“We would love to get more communities doing fun stuff for Gumboot Friday in November, and we’d love to hear about them.”

Previous Gumboot Fridays have seen schools and other groups and organisations holding gumboot throwing events and gumboot painting competitions.

“The idea is to have fun with it and think outside the square.

“But the underlying message is that there is a counselling platform for young people to be able to talk to someone,” Cogger said.

The foundation meets any administration costs.

To access counselling support or for more information, visit www.gumbootfriday.org.nz.

By Claire Inkson