A warm spring day in Tauranga provided perfect conditions for a fundraiser to help young women in the springtime of their lives battle disorders.
Yesterday's Walk for Hope attracted dozens of people taking advantage of a sunny afternoon to raise money for the Auckland-based care programme.
Christians from around New Zealand organise the walks, which pay for 10 young women to stay in the Auckland residential care home for about six months. The women aged 16 to 28 typically suffer from the effects of eating disorders, self-harm, depression, unplanned pregnancies and other issues.
Tauranga fundraiser team leader Jo Ball said the support did not end with the residential home and those who did not qualify still received care in their home communities.
She said the women had to enrol themselves because if they did not want to get better, then they wouldn't. "They get loved and counselled and taught good habits."