April 26, 2023
Gumboot stumble at bureaucracy hurdle
Mike King’s Due Drop Challenge hikoi arrives at the steps of parliament this afternoon, and he says the only roadblock between Cape Reings and Wellington is the health bureaucracy.
His team including former All Blacks Ian Jones, Commonwealth Games triathlon champion Rick Wells and former Kiwi Richie Barnett has run, cycled and swum their way down the motu over the past 16 days to raise funds and awareness for youth mental health.
He says while they intend to put the wero to politicians to increase mental health funding, it’s the bureaucrats who make the decision not to fund his Gumboot Friday initiative.
“We have created a system where New Zealanders have donated $9 million for free kids’ counselling and for that money, we have given over 65,000 face-to-face counselling sessions,” Mr King says.
Mike King says he knows Gumboot Friday and the I Am Hope Trust is offering the most effective and efficient service because they’re the one’s the government-funded 1737 mental health hotline refers their clients to.