Hon Matt Doocey
Minister for Mental Health

Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says funding from the Mental Health Innovation Fund will support an additional 560 young people in Rotorua to get mental health and addiction support and help provide a range of courses and workshops focused on upskilling people in the community to better support youth.

“Mental health and wellbeing is a prominent issue for many young people across the country, and we’re committed to helping young Kiwis get the support, they need, when they need it,’ Mr Doocey says.

“I’m pleased that this new funding for the Rotorua Community Youth Centre Trust will enable them to expand their team and scale up the valuable work it does to support young people and help them reach their full potential.

“The Trust provides free, youth-centred primary health, mental health, and social services to young people.

“The Trust is the sixth successful recipient of the first round of the Fund, with Youthline, the Sir John Kirwan Foundation, MATES in Construction, the Mental Health Foundation and Wellington City Mission already announced, I intend to announce other successful providers in the coming weeks.

“The Mental Health Innovation Fund was set up to provide $10 million over two years to support non-government organisations (NGOs) and community providers with extra funding to scale-up existing time-limited projects or initiatives that aim to improve mental health and addiction outcomes in New Zealand.

“This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in grassroots initiatives through non-governmental and community organisations that deliver mental health and addiction support.

“I expect the next round of funding for the Innovation Fund will open in about the middle of this year, which will be another opportunity for organisations to seek additional funding,” Mr Doocey says.

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