Comedian turned mental health educator Mike King will visit South Canterbury on Monday for a meet and greet with the community and to promote Gumboot Friday.
King will be joined by Timaru mental health awareness advocate Michelle Cogger at Number One Shoes on Stafford St in Timaru at 3.30pm and then at The Shearer’s Quarters in Temuka at 4.30pm.
Cogger said King’s visit is part of promoting Gumboot Friday to be held in 2022 on November 4 before heading to Christchurch and then the North Island.
King’s Gumboot Friday campaign raises funds to provide free counselling for five to 24-year-olds, and he is an ambassador for suicide-prevention charity I Am Hope.
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Cogger, who lost her 27-year-old son Ryan Weaver-Cogger to suicide, has previously invited King to speak to schools and the wider community in 2017 to lift the taboo around the subject.
King also visited Timaru in 2020 as part of a nationwide Tractor Trek to raise awareness of Gumboot Friday.
He established Gumboot Friday as he saw the biggest issue for youth who required mental health services were the waiting lists for counselling, which could range from anywhere between four weeks and six months.
Between 120 and 180 young people die by suicide each year, and it is estimated another 3500 attempt to take their own lives, the I Am Hope charity website says.
In the 2020/21 financial year there were 11 suspected suicides in the South Canterbury District Health Board area, five more than the previous year but six short of the 17 confirmed in 2011/12.
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