Retreat team ‘blown away’ by Womad gate donations

Leaders of a Taranaki suicide prevention organisation have been brought to tears upon realising they have exceeded their Womad fundraising goal by $27,000.

The mental health charity Taranaki Retreat was chosen by Womad partner OMV as the festival’s 2024 gate collectors.

They hoped to raise $15,000 to pay their power bill for the year, but ended up collecting $42,000 across the three days of the festival.

Retreat chief executive Caroline Silk said she was so moved by the generosity of people and the stories they shared about the retreat there were moments during Womad when she was holding back tears.

“Blessed is one way to describe how we feel. We are blown away, especially given how tight things are for people at the moment.”

Taranaki Retreat had helped more than 10,000 people since it was established 10 years ago.

It offered a range of free services such as counselling, workshops, support services and residential stays at a sanctuary just outside of New Plymouth.

To provide this service, the team had to raise $1.1 million every year to cover operating costs.

“We receive no direct government funding, so raising more than a million dollars every year is a big job. It’s constant and it’s time consuming,” Silk said.

“This $42,000 means we can keep the lights on this year, and we can also deliver one of our programmes for a year, which is amazing.”

Taranaki Retreat was set up by Jamie and Suzy Allen after their young daughter Carrie died of cancer in 2012.

Jamie left his job as the Dean of Taranaki Cathedral and the couple sold everything in order to start the facility.

“There have been moments when we’ve asked if we can keep the lights on for another month and sometimes the answer is possibly not, so the gift we’ve been given from Womad and New Zealand this month is huge,” he said.

“A lot of this $42,000 was made up of people giving five bucks, sometimes even 50c.

“I don’t want anyone thinking there's no point in me putting my five bucks in, because those five bucks are what keep us going.”

Taranaki Retreat’s Jamie Allen and Caroline Silk had the goal of raising $15,000 at Womad to pay their power bill for the year, but managed to raise almost three times that amount.