Awareness - Canterbury Action on Mental Health and Addictions

Awareness is an independent group of people with personal experience of mental illness, distress or addiction who want to make a difference to the way mental health services and society treat people with lived experience. They meet on the second Monday of the month at 12.30pm to share information and provide a forum for discussion, and action on issues that impact the mental health and addiction communities.

Some issues they have been a collective voice on include: seclusion, synthetic cannabis, youth issues, child custody decision making, crisis peer support, and the Mental Health Act. We provide feedback toTe Whatu Ora - Waitaha, NZ Health Canterbury and other organisations on policy and practice, write submissions and organise forums and events.

Membership for Awareness is free and open to all consumers/tangata whaiora/people with personal experience of mental illness or addiction. Awareness and the Mental Health Advocacy and Peer Support Trust (MHAPS) work in partnership on many projects.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/awarenesscanterbury