Fatal funding cut for health group

GUT-WRENCHING: Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson hugs, from left Julie Warner, Corrinne Oliver and Liz Cook, from Like Minds, Like Mine, after news their funding has been axed. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA.

A Wairarapa mental health organisation is reeling after losing out on funding vital to its operations - meaning it will be forced to close its doors by the end of the year.

Like Minds, Like Mine Wairarapa co-ordinator Corrinne Oliver said the team of seven was "blindsided" by Crown entity Health Promotion Agency's decision not to fund the education programme aimed at reducing the stigma associated with mental illness.

For more than five years, it has run workshops, training and joint campaigns with other health providers in the region.

The HPA had funded 17 regional LMLM branches with the Ministry of Health overseeing strategic direction.

In May, a new national plan was launched and as a result, the ministry advised the branches their contracts would expire at the end of 2014 but they were eligible to apply for funding from the HPA's new Like Minds, Like Mine Community Partnership Fund.

Ms Oliver said when the new funding was opened up to everyone, they lost out.

She said their application made it to stage two but they were shocked when they were told they were unsuccessful.

"We are just gutted, it's the loss of a vital service to Wairarapa and we are already a vulnerable community. "We share information with people letting them know it's ok to talk about what's going on.

"So many people can't believe it, it's gut-wrenching."

She said they only applied for the amount necessary to cover operational costs and her salary. The rest of the team are volunteers.

"You could apply for $100,000 but we've run on the smell of an oily rag for five and a half years."

Ms Oliver said money should be put into preventative programmes such as LMLM rather than taking an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach.

"For every dollar invested in the Like Minds Like Mine campaign nationally, $13 is saved in the area of mental health."

She said in the past year nearly 300 people attended workshops run by the team, some of whom have experienced mental illness themselves.

They covered issues such as hearing voices that are distressing, stigma and discrimination, human rights, and be there, stay involved.

They also ran radio and print campaigns such as the Feeling Down on the Farm programme.

Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson said she would meet with Ms Oliver to see what could be done.

LMLM Wairarapa was one of 73 applications that sought funding from the new fund.

HPA's manager mental health, Virginia MacEwan, said HPA was pleased with the quality of proposals received and most aligned with the objectives of the fund and the new national plan.

"The 16 projects selected were those that most closely aligned with the refreshed national plan and application criteria."

Mrs Oliver said they were meeting with the HPA to find out why they were not successful.