Initiatives

Te Hau Toka and its members have supported a range of initiatives, including:

• Support Hub:  Supported QLDC’s multi-agency Kia Kaha Hub which was set up immediately after the first COVID-19 lockdown.  It assisted more than 1,000 Queenstown Lakes residents with accurate, independent information and advice regarding employment, visas, repatriation, business support, welfare and wellbeing needs. Factsheets in different languages and videos of presentations were also provided.
• Co-designed community wellbeing plan: After receiving $3m MBIE funding in July 2021, Te Hau Toka co-designed a wellbeing plan with local communities, community agencies, and mental health experts, with support from Leadership Lab. The plan aimed to improve mental wellbeing in Queenstown Lakes, Central Otago and Fiordland and guide the group's decision-making and investments. From September to December 2021, three approaches were used in the co-design process: feedback was gathered from hard-to-reach voices in communities at a local level, community support providers shared input at a regional level, and national experts were consulted through an expert design challenge. The resulting plan focused on both immediate actions to support communities and longer-term partnerships for initiatives that helped build a network of wellbeing champions, promote prevention and early intervention, and strengthen community resilience.
• Navigation: Scoped and established a new Mental Health Wellbeing Navigator role with the support of local Charitable Trust funds in April 2021 to better connect people with mental health and wellbeing support in their communities. It covered Central Lakes (Queenstown, Wānaka, Central Otago) as a full-time role.
  A new part-time Community Wellbeing Co-Ordinator role  was established in 2022 to help co-ordinate mental wellbeing initiatives in the Fiordland community .  The role was created through a partnership between  Te Hau Toka  and Great South Regional Development Agency , based on the success of the Central Lakes role.  A further part-time community Wellbeing Co-ordinator role was added in September 2023.
  These navigators have become the central point of reference for our communities – the visible face of Te Hau Toka to help guide and support people towards better mental wellbeing.
• Connecting Communities funding: Launched in November 2021, the microfund (up to $1,000 per applicant) ran 3 times a year and was designed to encourage and support community-driven activities and events across Queenstown, Wānaka, Cromwell, and Te Anau/Fiordland. The initiative aimed to help people connect, prioritise their wellbeing, and have fun together. Over three years and eight funding rounds, Connecting Communities distributed over half a million dollars to 556 groups in the region.  Read more and view the funding recipients here.
• Youth Mental Health First Aid programme:  In September 2022, the innovative international Youth Mental Health First Aid programme was brought to New Zealand through a partnership between Te Hau Toka and Te Pou. Te Hau Toka provided the necessary funding to adapt the programme for New Zealand's specific context, while Te Pou contributed the expertise needed for its adaption and implementation. The programme focuses on supporting youth aged 11-18 and was piloted in the Southern Lakes region in 2024, with 10 local trainers being chosen, trained and accredited to keep running courses. Targeted funding was provided to schools for trainers and in-house courses and five low-cost community-based courses were held across the region for parents, caregivers and other interested adults.  To date, the Southern Lakes region has more than 200 trained and certified Youth Mental Health First Aiders, making it the largest in New Zealand. Te Pou is now rolling out the Youth MHFA Aotearoa programme nationwide.
• National Access and Choice programme: Advocated for the fast-tracking of the free national ’Access and Choice’ mental health initiatives like embedding new Health Improvement Practitioners (HIPs), health coaches and community support workers into primary care, and social workers into schools across the region. This programme has gone on to provide invaluable extra mental health and wellbeing support in a time of community need.
• Free Mental Health 101 education programme: Funded 12 free Blueprint for Learning Mental Health 101 psychological first aid workshops across the Southern Lakes region to help people learn how to support someone experiencing mental health challenges and maintain their own wellbeing. There were over 170 participants, and the workshops were particularly popular with the business community. 
• Suicide prevention: Brought the National Directory of Suicide Prevention Office to meet with Queenstown Lakes District Councillors, and community providers in Queenstown Lakes and Fiordland (including emergency workers). The discussion included the contributions we can all make to preventing suicides in our communities and the importance of language and well-managed responses when suicides occur.
• National support and campaigns: Supported various Mental Health Foundation campaigns including co-ordinating and promoting regional activities for the annual national Mental Health Awareness Week and partnering on the Getting Through Together campaign to include more language translations appropriate for the Southern Lakes region. Raised local awareness of the free 1737 counselling support helpline through promotion campaigns and by adapting posters using photos of local community members to make them more relatable within our communities.
• One-stop shop information: Provided easy online access to detailed information about health and wellbeing services.  This included developing:
  • A Traffic Light Guide to help people look after their wellbeing, with tips for what to do in an immediate mental health crisis (red), when you need extra support (orange), and keeping well (green). 
  • A monthly email newsletter and a Facebook page to help share news, programmes and opportunities to connect communities.
  • Area-specific Christmas Wellbeing Guides to be distributed every December to connect people with support over the holiday period when local community agencies often take a well-deserved break.
• Free GoodYarn mental health workshops: Partnered with the Southern Wellbeing Trust (now Headlight Trust) to run six GoodYarn mental health workshops for small businesses in Queenstown and Wānaka in autumn 2022. These free peer-to-peer workshops provided local businesses with the tools to support mental health discussions, covering topics such as how to care for your mental health, how to approach someone who may be struggling, how to recognise signs of mental distress, and how to find support. In response to emerging community challenges like staff shortages, increased living costs, and separation from family, Te Hau Toka provided funding for an additional 15 GoodYarn workshops across Queenstown between October 2022 and June 2023. These workshops prioritised ‘carers’—social agencies, NGOs, and volunteers working on the frontline—as well as small businesses, especially those in regular contact with people under pressure, such as professional services, hairdressers, accountants, and allied health businesses with under 50 staff.
• Business partnerships: Partnered with the Otago Regional Business Partner Network to provide a range of business wellbeing initiatives across the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago region. This included offering wellbeing support and mentoring to Regional Business Advisors, equipping them with the tools to better support their clients and their own wellbeing through professional guidance from a trained counsellor. The collaboration also involved delivering targeted wellbeing communications to businesses in Queenstown, Cromwell, Wānaka, and Te Anau through the Network’s channels. Additionally, industry partnerships led to business-focused wellbeing initiatives, such as the Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce Housing Information Series and the Southland Chamber of Commerce Wellbeing Breakfast, which introduced the First Steps nationwide business wellbeing programme.
• Council partnerships: Partnered with local councils to expand their community-based programmes (Libraries, Sport and Recreation, Community Development, and Parks and Reserves) to maximise their value for communities across the region. This included supporting the regional Storywalk initiative as well as the launch party in Te Anau, the 1000 Books before School programme, increasing digital resources for more equitable access, the Walkie Talkies groups, and boosting QLDC's new Get Active community grant to enable more local organisations to support health and wellbeing in the community.  Te Hau Toka also helped to fund the Summerdaze programme coordinator role from 2021-2023, as well as an online event platform, to run specific events across the region during the summer season.  Two community engagement librarian roles were also funded in the Queenstown Lakes district to assist with creating library-based community wellbeing programmes and events. Libraries were recognised in the co-designed plan as community spaces that were safe and welcoming for all and these programmes were particularly beneficial for engaging with more vulnerable individuals and groups.
• Senior wellbeing initiatives: A range of programmes were funded to support the mental and physical wellbeing of seniors in the region who had become more vulnerable during COVID. The “Picnic at Home” initiative, launched during Easter 2022, brought much-needed cheer to seniors in Queenstown and Wānaka and proved extremely popular. This success led to further initiatives, including a Mid-Winter Christmas in Cromwell and Matariki Hampers in Fiordland (which has now become an annual self-sustaining event). The monthly Whakatipu Seniors Gig Guide, created in October 2022, provided local seniors with one-stop information on activities to boost their wellbeing and social connection. Following its success, a Fiordland Seniors Gig Guide was launched in July 2023. A partnership with Community Link Upper Clutha supported the Reconnecting Seniors Network to help enhance social connection, active aging, and community involvement for its local senior community. Te Hau Toka also provided seed funding for Te Atamira's Saturday Arts Social programme in Queenstown which helps enhance wellbeing, social connection and creative expression for over 60s.
• Fiordland-specific community initiatives: Partnered on several community-focused projects in Fiordland. In July 2023, Te Hau Toka supported the Te Anau Waitangi Charitable Trust for "Matariki in Fiordland," a cross-organisational collaboration that offered a range of wellbeing activities designed to bring the community together, with specific programmes for children, youth, the elderly, and whānau. In May 2023, Te Hau Toka partnered with the Fiordland Climbing Wall group to fund routesetting training, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the local climbing wall as a space for challenge, engagement and wellbeing. In June 2023, Te Hau Toka partnered with the Fiordland Community Garden Charitable Trust to further develop the community garden as a welcoming space for individuals, particularly vulnerable groups, seeking connection.
• iFLY Whakamana programme: Funding to expand a targeted programme to improve the mental wellbeing of Whakatipu school children aged 11 and 12. ‘iFLY Whakamana’ helps address the increased anxiety, lack of confidence, and associated behaviours affecting the school community. It has had outstanding results to date and won a national tourism community engagement award in 2024. 
• Loss and Grief education: Funding and operational support to run free Loss and Grief Education Days for regional healthcare and social service providers.  

• Blue Stories: Operational and promotional support for the Blue Stories Project . The exhibition at Frankton Library showcased portraits and inspiring stories of locals who overcame perinatal depression and the library facilitated Support Sessions to help individuals connect with the Central Lakes Family Services team and available support services.

• Cromwell festival: Funding to ensure the free Light Up Winter festival went ahead in 2022 as a way of bringing the Cromwell community together and boosting wellbeing in a time of need.  

• Developing data: Recognising the lack of local wellbeing research, Te Hau Toka has been advocating for more datasets to be established to measure the ongoing wellbeing of communities across the Southern Lakes region. This has included adding a specific set of questions to the Queenstown Lakes District Council’s annual Quality of Life Survey since 2022. Te Hau Toka also partnered with Te Whatu Ora Southern’s public health unit, Public Health South, to develop and trial the WHO-5, a quarterly one-minute ‘mood check’ survey. Based on the World Health Organisation’s five-item Wellbeing Index (WHO-5), this internationally recognised tool was used to assess mental wellbeing. However, due to a limited number of respondents and a lack of demographic diversity, the data was insufficient to draw meaningful conclusions or apply them effectively to enhance community well-being, so this initiative was discontinued.

• Independent evaluation: In 2024, specialist Dr Delwyn Goodrick conducted an independent evaluation of Te Hau Toka's overall programme of work.  The report singled out several key initiatives, including the Connecting Communities fund, describing it as “very effective” and “a highly visible initiative that extended the reach of mental wellbeing activities across the communities”.  Overall, Te Hau Toka’s mahi (work) was described as “inspiring, moving and meaningful”, proving effective in promoting evidence-based wellbeing and amplifying existing or planned initiatives across the Queenstown Lakes, Central and Fiordland areas.  More specifically, the evaluation identified four key areas of improved mental health and wellbeing outcomes - literacy; knowledge about supports; access to community-led initiatives; and stronger partnerships to support and sustain mental wellbeing. 

• ‘Getting Through Together’  framework for community wellbeing and disaster recovery: Before concluding its work in March 2025, Te Hau Toka developed a 'Getting Through Together' psychosocial framework for community wellbeing and disaster recovery. This proposed framework incorporates Te Hau Toka’s insights, successes, and lessons learned, drawing on research, collective expertise, and the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi—partnership, active protection, mutual benefit, and equity. Designed as a community-led, evidence-based, phased approach, it emphasises promotion, prevention, and early intervention to ensure that all communities are included, valued and receive equitable support. The framework complements existing government structures and has been shared with key emergency management and community agencies, as well as local government, to help guide future emergency preparedness and responses.