Chat room host Steve Rickard
A counselling support service for men’s mental health has lost some of its government funding and is now looking for sponsors in the King Country.
The charity run by the Hamilton-based Male Support Services organisation sends a caravan to visit Waikato, King Country and Hauraki locations on a three-weekly cycle.
“We’d love to link up with individuals or businesses in this area who like what we do and are prepared to sponsor us,” says Chat Room host Steve Rickard.
“We come to Te Kūiti every three weeks on a Thursday, and I park the caravan opposite New World. Quite a few men are now dropping in to chat.
“We know life can be a struggle sometimes, and we know talking about those struggles can help.”
Rickard says the free mobile service can provide a safe space for me to share their struggles.
“Anyone can pop in and have a yarn or seek help and advice.”
He says the service was set up about 15 years ago for male survivors of sexual abuse.
At that time there was nothing for men in that position, so a King Country farmer, Mike Holloway, sold his farm and put the profits into setting up Male Support Services.
“We currently have over 1000 active clients. At this point maybe 70 per cent would be survivors of sexual abuse while the rest face more general mental health issues – around things like anxiety, depression or relationship issues.
“Men can approach us by just rocking up. The thing with men is regularity is important, so the more they see me here the more likely they will be to pop in. They need to see I’m not just a fly-by-nighter who will turn up once, then disappear.”
However, Rickard said it could take three or four times noticing the caravan parked opposite New World in Rora St, before men decided to pop in for a chat.
“I am not a trained counsellor myself, but I am trained in connecting with men. Often men just need a safe place to come and have a chat and offload stuff that’s bottling up inside them, which helps avoid taking it home to the family.”
