Schizophrenia group in crisis

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 9

Schizophrenia group in crisis

An urgent injection of Government funds is needed to save the New Zealand Schizophrenia Fellowship from collapse. The financial crisis facing, the group has been triggered by the rejection of its application to the Lottery Board for a 1986 funding grant. The group’s president, Mrs Christine Staniforth, said last evening that the fellowship might have to close its national office in Christchurch. She said that it no longer

would be able to pay the wages of its two part-time national directors, and four field officers based in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. The fellowship was formed in 1977 and now has branches in Northland, Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Rotorua, Napier, New Plymouth, Hawera, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Timaru and Dunedin. More than 1000 families were supported by the fel-

lowship and it also campaigned to raise community awareness of mental illness problems. “A year ago we sought Government funding through the Health Department. They referred it on to Social Welfare,” Mrs Staniforth said. In March, Social Welfare officers spent a day at the Christchurch headquarters studying the fellowship’s objectives and projects. “We have not heard back.” Subsequent inquiries to the department drew “fob

off’ answers that it was still “being investigated,” Mrs Staniforth said. “It again confirms that the needs of the severely mentally ill are at the bottom of the health priority list,” Mrs Staniforth said. The fellowship’s early funding came from several sources. Last year the Lottery Board granted $30,000. With the remainder of Telethon grant money this funded the national office and field officers. “But now the Telethon money has run out. We had

to ask for $59,000 from the Lottery Board to meet running costs,” Mrs Staniforth said. This week the fellowship received a letter advising that it was turned down. Mrs Staniforth said that the funding collapse would wipe out seven years of carefully built co-ordination and vital support programmes. According to the Director of the Mental Health Foundation, Dr Max Abbott, the fellowship provided vital support for schizophrenia sufferers.