Dunedin 2006: A spate of teenage suicides had parents on edge. . . who would be next. . . why was this happening. . . there were rumours of a pact, but these were later shown to be unfounded by an investigation into any links between the teenagers.
A counsellor, working part time in an Intermediate School and part time with mental health patients, started asking “Why? Why are these young people choosing to end their lives? Why are they falling through the cracks? Why are they not accessing the help they need?” This counsellor was Averil Pierce, a woman with a passion for children, and for seeing them reach the potentials for which they were created.
Averil started to ask the young people what they thought might be the answers to these difficult questions, and she asked some other questions about seeking help too. The result that came from these questions – we need to provide support at a younger age. By the time they were teenagers, these young people had too many complex issues and the stress was too much. They didn’t want to die (those who suicide usually don’t), they just wanted the pain to end.
While others formed committees to talk about what could be done to help our young people, and they sat and debated the theories, Averil was forming ChatBus Trust. She appointed a Board, they became a registered Charitable Trust, gained donee status with IRD, found some community support, purchased a bus and had it converted to a mobile counselling room, complete with sign writing on the outside, and then she got out there into Intermediate Schools in Dunedin, where preteens were struggling with the issues of life. ChatBus Trust raised $109,000 in that first year!
There was some opposition in those beginning times. . . “No one has ever done this before”. . .”It will never work”. . . “This isn’t how counselling works”. . . well no, it hasn’t been done before, and this isn’t normally how counselling is done, but it works. As they say “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” and the demand for ChatBus has continued to grow until now it is at capacity, and another bus/counsellor is needed. Children find ChatBus a safe place to access help. . . on their familiar school grounds, and yet slightly removed by being in the neutral space of the bus.
Community support is an integral part of ChatBus, and the generosity of businesses and individuals, has, and still is making a big difference for many children in Dunedin.
Mark Laughton Motors imported a bus at cost price and bore the cost until ChatBus had raised the money. Car Connection provided a generous service contract on the bus, donating their labour. Williams Signs & Graphix donated signwriting on the bus. The Edge Radio donated air time to promote ChatBus. Peter Sara Law donated legal expertise. Anderson’s Exchange Pharmacy donated the cost of printing pamphlets. Southlife Church donated the use of their photocopier. Many individuals signed up as ChatBus Friends, giving ongoing financial support.
Now the little orange bus, that is ChatBus, is a common sight on the streets of Dunedin as it moves between Balmacewen, Dunedin North, and Tahuna Intermediate Schools, and Halfway Bush Primary School.