'One suicide is one suicide too many'
Chanelle's Wish is a social enterprise set up in loving memory of a young woman who passed away from suicide in 2019.
Our goal is to design clothing pieces which not only promote mental health awareness but also raise funds for the essential services of mental health and sexual abuse charities within New Zealand.
$10 from each sale will be directed to charities within New Zealand where the focus is on raising awareness and supporting Kiwi's battling mental illness as well as survivors of sexual abuse.
Our first lot of chosen charities are-
Brave Charitable Trust (Brave) is an official charity of New Zealand, founded in 2018 and works to raise awareness about sexual violence affecting young people in Aotearoa. They also provide the appropriate tools to help those affected through their community projects. Funds raised from these t-shirt sales will be used to help them run educational school visits and presentations focused on educating young people about sexual abuse and how to get help.
Taranaki Retreat is a suicide prevention and postvention initiative where people experiencing loss, trauma or mental distress can visit to get away from the stressors in their lives. Taranaki Retreat is a community sanctuary, here to provide time-out space for families and individuals to stay free of charge when times are tough. Funds raised from these t-shirt sales will be used to help cover costs associated with a residential stay.
Our Why?
Designer, Melinda has seen firsthand the devastation to families, friends and the community from suicide. Tragically Melinda lost their sister Chanelle in 2019 to suicide after a long battle with mental illness following extensive sexual abuse as a young child. The stigma, the shame, the lack of support meant her sister was silenced BUT she wants to raise awareness and get people talking so that no more sisters (or brothers, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grand children, friends or extended family members) are lost to suicide.
During Chanelle's life, she was very vocal on the importance of talking about mental health and the need to reduce the stigma of mental illness and seeking help and with these shirts we hope to achieve this.
I am just a sister trying my hardest to bring about social change so that you don't have to experience the pain of loosing a loved one to suicide. Maybe these shirts will spark conversation about the taboo subject or maybe we will be able to raise some much needed funds to support the work of mental health and sexual abuse charities right here in our backyard.
