Vodafone Foundation extends partnership with Zeal with largest grant
Monday 26 November, 2018
The Vodafone NZ Foundation today announced their largest ever charitable grant of $700,000. The grant, along with
significant wrap-around support, will enable Zeal to scale their programme supporting young people disclosing mental
health crises online.
The grant will be used to scale up Zeal’s Online Crisis Intervention programme which will allow them to save more lives.
This is part of the Vodafone Foundation’s commitment to halving the number of excluded and disadvantaged youth by 2027.
Head of the Vodafone NZ Foundation, Lani Evans, says this partnership is even more important at a time when the latest
mental health research reveals shocking statistics for Kiwi youth.
“New Zealand’s suicide rate is the worst in the developed world, with the highest number of suicides in the 20-24 year
old group [1]. It’s absolutely tragic, and we want to do everything we can to help our rangatahi.
“The latest research shows one in four young people are online almost constantly and often see others post about mental
health crises online. In 2016, we began a partnership with Zeal to test an innovative idea that provides support to
young people in crisis in a format that is relevant to them. Since the inception of this idea, we’ve provided Zeal with
financial support, as well as technical expertise and volunteer time,” said Lani.
Zeal’s solution, which is called Online Crisis Intervention, reaches out to young people in crisis online and provides
meaningful, interpersonal support, helping them get to a better place and in some occasions has even saved lives. The
partnership also plays an important role in the Vodafone Foundation’s 10 year strategy to use technology to create
better outcomes for rangatahi and save lives through innovative, scalable solutions.
General Manager of Zeal and Director of Online Crisis Intervention, Elliot Taylor, explains how the grant will help save
more lives.
“The Online Crisis Intervention programme is a global first. Our vision is to get help to every young person in crisis
online. Thanks to the Vodafone Foundation’s support, we have the opportunity to turn this dream into a reality and to
ensure all young people receive support when and where they need it.
“Our team of volunteers is trained to respond to young people and offer care and support. They are currently live 21
hours a week and have 8 conversations a day. Our aspiration is to provide a 24 hour service and respond to all young
people within 5 minutes,” Elliot said.
The team at Zeal and the Vodafone Foundation share the vision to see more young people in New Zealand living lives they
value.
The Vodafone Foundation goes beyond funding. It leverages Vodafone’s technology, power, and business support and will
also use its global reach to help spread awareness of this programme to positively impact the lives of more young people
around the world.
· [1] Statistics from Ministry of Justice
ends