Rats get funding for support car
The region’s Riders Against Teen Suicide are taking their stand another step forward with the creation of a mobile support unit.
Chairman Tama ‘Eminukutepua has received a $10,000 AMP national scholarship towards his Riders Against Teen Suicide (Rats) project to mobilise an after-hours mobile suicide support unit.
‘‘Life is important to me. ‘‘The service providers that are available are nine to five and we know that suicide doesn’t play by those rules.’’
The funds will go towards a vehicle for the unit, which he emphasised was a support service, not a clinical service. It is manned by volunteers, who are currently doing their suicide prevention and first aid workshops.
‘‘We really want it up and running and fully stocked well before Christmas, because that’s the most stressful time of the year.’’
The former repo man, who now sells motorbikes at Colton’s Motors in Ha¯wera, joined the first Rats rally in 2013 and has been involved ever since.
‘Eminukutepua said 60 per cent of people who had committed suicide had not had contact with any services in the community, and it was important that the mobile unit built good relationships with the other organisations, who they would refer people to.
‘‘What we’re doing by providing this service is making that bridge from the early stages to the service providers who do that clinical side.’’
‘Eminukutepua said the culture had changed to the point where a lot of people don’t even know their neighbours. ‘‘We need to start preserving life and start caring about other people,’’ he said.
‘Eminukutepua said after taking over as chair of Rats in March he looked at the statistics and they didn’t make good reading. While they had done a lot to raise awareness of teen suicide and ‘‘made a lot of noise’’, they wanted to do more to prevent it.
‘‘We’ve had a lot of children die, 8-year-olds, 13-year-olds, 12-yearolds. So we needed to change what we are doing as Rats,’’ he said.
‘Eminukutepua said because they are self-funded they are not limited by any criteria - anybody can refer the person to the mobile unit.
‘‘It’s a huge thing, recognising that epidemic of suicide in our communities.
‘‘When those corporate companies start to recognise that and start to donate their time and money back into their community, it can only enhance what’s already there.’’