Lifting the Lid, our Clubs major effort to partner with schools to support young people with mental health problems, is going from strength to strength. This Newsletter will bring you up to date with the project progress.
Lifting the Lid Newsletter April 2026
This newsletter is overdue and I apologise. We have been a little preoccupied of late completing the Global Grant. However, thanks to the advice and guidance of Irina Francken we have nearly finished the written submission.
We have received several questions regarding the Grant from clubs around the District. The questions are usually along the lines of “which clubs outside Wellington will benefit from the Global Grant?” “If my club would like to start the Lifting the Lid programme will we receive any funds?” “How will the money be spent?”
The Global Grant is being submitted on behalf of all the clubs who are currently running the Lifting the Lid programme. Presently, that is 14 clubs in total. We are making provision however, for approximately 4 additional clubs who have indicated they would like to start on the programme.
The answer to the second question is yes. As long as your club has started Lifting the Lid programme we can include you in the funding. If you would like more information on the process of starting the programme please let us know.
Regarding how will the funds will be used. The funds will be be used primarily to support those clubs who are currently running the Lifting the Lid programme. The GG will also provide funds to train teachers to recognise and deal with students with mental health issues. In addition we will be funding a programme that provides online safety resources for parents, caregivers and professionals to help keep children safer online and increase their emotional wellbeing.
Impact of Lifting the Lid
LtL continues to have a profound impact on the lives of many. To date, and since the start of the programme, we have supported 1689 students with 1856 sessions. That is an average of 12 students per week during the school year. Thank you again to all the Rotary clubs who support this vital project
Website and brochure
We are presently updating our brochure and revamping the LtL website. We have been very fortunate to have the help of a professional mainly on pro bono basis with this work. Our next task is to update our social media plan.
The Summit in Napier
As many of you know we had the opportunity to speak at the recent Summit about LtL and our progress. We also were given the opportunity to have a booth in the Trade Show area. This was thanks to Carol and Brent and we are most grateful for their support.
The Summit created a great deal of interest in LtL. Later this month we will be presenting the programme to a Rotary Community Group in Auckland who are looking to start the programme. We have also received inquiries from clubs from the Coromandel to Taranaki. So the interest is there.
Meeting with the schools
In March we held one of the three meetings we have during the year with the Wellington schools we support. As always there was a great turnout with 26 teachers and Rotarians present. We were fortunate enough to have Dr Narmali Bandaranayake, a Child Psychiatrist and Dr Simon Buchanan, a Clinical Psychologist explain the mental health system in the Capital and Coast area.
Government Grant
The government recently announced a grant was available for grassroots mental health initiatives. These grants are from $40,000 to $100,000. Thanks to David Barnes we have completed an application for funding and are keeping our fingers crossed we will be successful.
Schools survey.
With the help of several Deputy Principals and outside sources we have developed a survey for schools which will help us measure the impact of the Lifting the Lid programme. The survey will be issued every term and provide us with some much needed data on the impact of LtL. The results of the survey will then assist us in our presentations to potential funders