Did you know it is estimated that 1 in 4 Kiwis will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetime?* And almost every person will experience periods of anxiety, unease and/or stress.

We saw this throughout the pandemic, and research actually found that “depression and anxiety significantly exceeded population norms".

Kiwis experienced social isolation, worry for our health and that of our friends and family, financial distress and much more. And it’s not over. The need for support with anxiety is forecast to keep growing.

Anxiety New Zealand Trust was operating throughout all levels of lockdown and continues to support those who reach out for help. In addition to our clinical and advocacy work, Anxiety New Zealand Trust, in 2021:

• Answered and supported 50,000 callers to our 0800 ANXIETY Helpline across the country and to our clinic
• Facilitated over 70 Peer Support groups for clients needing ongoing support
• Provided 140 community education visits, meetings, or sessions
• Sent out hundreds of resource packs to community organisations
• Connected with thousands of people through our online channels (monthly newsletters, website, blog articles and social media posts) 

To meet the growing demand we need funds to invest in our infrastructure, things like a new system for running our 0800 ANXIETY helpline. This is a free 24/7 service, run by volunteers, and the system we are using is no longer adequate for the number of calls we are receiving.

We are renowned for our training and support to our volunteers, but developing and creating materials, running initial training and providing ongoing supervision and professional development to our 80+ volunteers who run our helpline is costly and time-consuming.

Funding for community education is limited. We simply cannot respond to every request for workshops, talks and seminars, though we know our community needs this support.