This year, Gambling Harm Awareness Week (GHAW) ran from 30 August – 5 September. GHAW is a time for whānau to check in with themselves and
In partnership with our hoamahi at Raukura Hauora o Tainui, we released Te Reo Raurangatira, voices of our community champions – our Rangatira o nāianei, a video series highlighting the voices of our community champions who made the choice to seek support for their harmful gambling behaviours.
This kaupapa was a year in the making. This time last year, we were in lockdown, with many of our whānau and hāpori disconnected from the support services they needed by the digital divide. Post-lock down, gambling expenditure was at an all-time high, especially on pokies. Whānau were reluctant to reach out for help.
This got our team thinking, that we need to come up with a kaupapa that would drive our whānau to seek support for the issues they were having with their gambling. Even in the digital age, there are very real barriers to seeking help, whakamā or stigma being the greatest of them all. To encourage our whānau to get the help they need, we turned to the experts in this area, our community champions.
We hope these stories served as inspiration for those who are yet to take the first steps to get their gambling under control, to pick up the phone, fill out a referral form or even send a FB message. The hardest thing to do is to take the first step! We also wanted whānau out there to know about the amazing service that is being provided by our mates at Raukura Hauora o Tainui.
We tried something a little different this year in the knowledge that Covid-19 would be with us for a long time yet, and it paid off. Our videos got 100's of views and we had whānau reach out to us, keen to take the first steps to get their gambling under control, or just looking for someone to talk to. GHAW 2021 was a success in our books.