It's All Right Here!

The new collection of material from All Right? has been a long time in the making. It is without a doubt one of the largest collections - and certainly the most comprehensive - in the archive to date. It has been a real pleasure to work through this huge variety of content and see just how much this organisation has done for our communities.

- Rosalee

Here in post-quake Canterbury, it would seem we’ve gotten better at talking about mental wellbeing over the past few years. Perhaps out of necessity more than anything - it’s not easy to get through a series of natural disasters without sharing the experience with those around you, being honest about how you’re getting on, and realising that actually, it’s ok to feel whatever you’re feeling. Sometimes the feelings are strange and unexpected - one day you’re fine and the future seems bright and positive. The next day... bam! It all hits at once and you just want to curl up and hide from the world for a while.

Natural disasters can affect us all in very different ways, and we all have different coping mechanisms and paths to recovery.

A print advertisement from Phase 1 of the All Right? campaign

All Right? is a social marketing wellbeing campaign led by the Canterbury District Health Board and the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. It was launched in 2013, and focuses on the psychosocial recovery of Cantabrians following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.

Through a huge range of delivery techniques such as street posters; billboards; newspaper and radio advertisements; social media; events and stunts, the All Right? team have creatively and consistently communicated the importance of mental wellbeing to all corners of greater Christchurch, sharing simple and easy evidence-based tips for improving wellbeing. Their messages draw on the ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ framework, as well as local qualitative and quantitative research, stakeholder feedback, specialist advice, and ongoing evaluation.

  

All Right? posters from various campaigns - from left: 5 Ways to Wellbeing, Te Waioratanga, and Compliments

Perhaps you happened to be shopping at Pak’n’SAVE in Wainoni when the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra put on an impromptu, in-store concert? Maybe you know an EQC call centre worker, teacher, or Eastgate mall customer who received a rose and coffee voucher. Or someone who fuels up at Z Energy on Curletts Road and received a ‘Compliment Surprise’? These are just a few heart-warming examples of All Right’s ‘Outrageous Bursts of All Right’.

 

From top-left: Christchurch Symphony Orchestra playing at Pak'n'SAVE for 'BYO CSO'; 'All Righties' surprising customers at Z Energy on Curletts Road; a flower label for Flower Bombing.

The substantial collection of material in CEISMIC covers most - but not all - of what All Right? has been up to over the past four years, but we’re yet to collect documentation and resources from their most recent projects, which you can find on the All Right? website.

I personally believe that All Right? is a large part of the reason we are getting better at attending to our mental health here in Canterbury. An article published in the International Journal of Mental Health Promotion last year outlines some statistics from their evaluation research: by July 2015, 70% of a representative sample of the population were aware of the All Right? campaign, and about two thirds of these people reported that the All Right? messages made them think about how they were feeling. What’s more, close to two-thirds of those aware of the campaign felt that the All Right? messages gave them ideas of things they could do to help their own wellbeing.

A special thanks to our former Research Assistant Matthew Lattin for the countless hours he put into preparing this collection, and to Emily Arps and the All Right? team for their ongoing assistance in getting it all ready!