{"id":630049,"date":"2026-10-14T05:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T05:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/630049\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T05:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T05:24:09","slug":"whangarei-flash-mob-brings-people-together-for-mental-health-awareness-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/630049\/","title":{"rendered":"Whang\u0101rei flash mob brings people together for Mental Health Awareness Week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Petricevich said she was pleased with the turnout for the quickly organised event, especially given how busy people were on a weekday.<\/p>\n

She hoped a similar event in Whang\u0101rei would be held during Mental Health Awareness Week annually.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will build on this every year and try and bring the community together<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petricevich said the flash mob built on the idea of connection, with the participants laughing and hugging each other at the end.<\/p>\n

Even being outside was an important step for people\u2019s mental health<\/a>, she said.<\/p>\n

\"AboutAbout 40 people dance to the Bee Gees’ song Stayin’ Alive during a flash mob at P\u016btahi Park, Whang\u0101rei. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

One of the flash mob participants was Tess Tosach, who was about to launch a social media network Trauma Healing Trauma, for people who suffered childhood abuse.<\/p>\n

She said mental health in New Zealand could be improved by addressing the \u201cepidemic\u201d of childhood abuse.<\/p>\n

Belonging matters is the theme for this year\u2019s Mental Health Awareness Week, with the aim of focusing on small, everyday moments of connection that foster a genuine sense of inclusion and boost mental wellbeing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shaun Robinson, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, which organises the awareness week, said the theme came at a time of rising loneliness<\/a> in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Nurturing a sense of belonging was one of the most powerful protective factors for people\u2019s mental health, he said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Whang\u0101rei event brought people outside to dance, including Turi Hockenhull (left) and Tess Tosach. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

\u201cHumans are social beings and being able to spend time with one another, connect and feel that we belong is vital for our mental and emotional health,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mental Health Awareness Week runs until October 18.<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Petricevich said she was pleased with the turnout for the quickly organised event, especially given how busy people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[50374,1408,682,1038,7573,34219,16776,2082,1360,134,1885,554,555,4281,111,139,69,5202,384,12637,686,1869],"class_list":["post-630049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-active","tag-awareness","tag-being","tag-brings","tag-celebrated","tag-connecting","tag-flash","tag-for","tag-having","tag-health","tag-mental","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-mob","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-part","tag-people","tag-together","tag-week","tag-whangrei"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}