Opening of 20th Anniversary of Step Ahead Trust

Friday 13 June 2003

I’m really pleased to be here and still find it hard to accept that the formal bit of any event includes me. I'll try to be as informally formal as usual today.

Congratulations on hitting 20 years as a goer. As many of us with community backgrounds are aware, the good ideas endure but many, many good ideas at the time do not rack up the same longevity.

I was asked for my own reflections personal and professional on the Step Ahead Trust and why it has worked so well.

Well, as I said earlier this week to some people with a good idea and a begging bowl at the ready, go out and find the right people and the funding will come.

I'm sure it sounded highly Zen to them but it is true...one of the reasons this has worked so well is because you have been blessed with the right people at the right time.

It must also be gratifying to watch the rest of the world catch up with regard to your approach to mental illness. Society has moved on a lot in the last 20 years. Some of the moves have not been good in practice but the overall aims have been better I think.

People seem to have caught up with the idea that it is better with our unwell to hold their hands rather than turn our backs on them.

There is always room for improvement but I do think that groups such as Step Ahead have helped break down some of the old, bad stereotypes about mental illness.

Step Ahead is now the main daytime provider of activities for Canterbury people with mental illness. This would tend to indicate that you have got the recipe right over the years.

This is also a result of the incredibly strong contacts and supports that the Christchurch and Canterbury community still has intact. One of our greatest assets as a city has been that we have never bought into the cult of the individual, even at its horrible heights in the 90's.

We have always kept alive the flame of the cult of the community, another area where I am delighted to see the rest of the country is now catching up.Groups such as the Step Ahead Trust have played a huge part in keeping this positive attitude alive and well. I am delighted to be here to help keep it that way. Happy birthday to you.