“It’s an outward and visible sign that mental health matters,” Wendy said.
We were under the shade of one of the marquees set up at the top of Trafalgar Street in Nelson on Saturday, eyes fixed on the cathedral steps covered in shoes of every make and model. There were feathered boots embellished with adhesive gems, sneakers covered in bark and googly eyes and heels painted every colour.
Singer-songwriter Bryce Wastney was playing something soulful from the stage, and a team of people (including our own Renata van der Wal) was cooking up sausages. People were gathered at a shoe decoration station. Others milled around the marquees offering resources around mental health and wellbeing.
It was called the “Step Towards Each Other” project, organised by Health Action Trust in partnership with Hikitia!, Arts Council Nelson, Nelson Marlborough Public Health, Magenta Creative Space, Community Art Works – and us, the Nelson Anglican Diocese.
Wendy Strawbridge, mental health promoter with Health Action Trust, told me about the process. Throughout September, people painted and decorated old pairs of shoes. Free workshops helped get things started, but enthusiasm spread quickly, with everyone from school kids to rest home residents decorating shoes of their own. Not all of these shoes were present on the steps – Wendy mentioned a display in Tapawera, a shoe pyramid in Golden Bay and other communities from Motueka and across Marlborough creating their own interpretations of the project.
The project was inspired by “Walks of Life”, an artwork by Community Art Works founder Faye Wulff 25 years ago, which filled the cathedral steps with painted shoes before being taken to Parliament.
So why shoes?
Each gumboot and stiletto symbolises the act of stepping towards one another.
“The answer's in the community,” Wendy said. “The answer's in each other, in being connected in a meaningful way every day.”
The importance of connection is something the Nelson Anglican Diocese knows well. The diocese played a hands-on role in bringing the project to life, through the work of our social services coordinator, Jason Shaw. “We believe that God is restoring all things back to him,” he said, “and that he cares deeply about all things. Our wellbeing is a big part of that.”
For several years, Jason and Wendy have shared a strong working relationship built on the same goal: caring for people well. He values Wendy’s “gift of inviting people into different spaces and allowing them to be heard” and appreciates Health Action Trust’s commitment to collaboration. “I often find that our values around caring for the community align very closely with other organisations, so it makes sense to work together,” he told me.
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We have invited these writers to share their experiences, ideas and opinions in the hope that these will provoke thought, challenge you to go deeper and inspire you to put your faith into action. These articles should not be taken as the official view of the Nelson Diocese on any particular matter.
“It’s an outward and visible sign that mental health matters,” Wendy said.
We were under the shade of one of the marquees set up at the top of Trafalgar Street in Nelson on Saturday, eyes fixed on the cathedral steps covered in shoes of every make and model. There were feathered boots embellished with adhesive gems, sneakers covered in bark and googly eyes and heels painted every colour.
Singer-songwriter Bryce Wastney was playing something soulful from the stage, and a team of people (including our own Renata van der Wal) was cooking up sausages. People were gathered at a shoe decoration station. Others milled around the marquees offering resources around mental health and wellbeing.
It was called the “Step Towards Each Other” project, organised by Health Action Trust in partnership with Hikitia!, Arts Council Nelson, Nelson Marlborough Public Health, Magenta Creative Space, Community Art Works – and us, the Nelson Anglican Diocese.
Wendy Strawbridge, mental health promoter with Health Action Trust, told me about the process. Throughout September, people painted and decorated old pairs of shoes. Free workshops helped get things started, but enthusiasm spread quickly, with everyone from school kids to rest home residents decorating shoes of their own. Not all of these shoes were present on the steps – Wendy mentioned a display in Tapawera, a shoe pyramid in Golden Bay and other communities from Motueka and across Marlborough creating their own interpretations of the project.
The project was inspired by “Walks of Life”, an artwork by Community Art Works founder Faye Wulff 25 years ago, which filled the cathedral steps with painted shoes before being taken to Parliament.
So why shoes?
Each gumboot and stiletto symbolises the act of stepping towards one another.
“The answer's in the community,” Wendy said. “The answer's in each other, in being connected in a meaningful way every day.”
The importance of connection is something the Nelson Anglican Diocese knows well. The diocese played a hands-on role in bringing the project to life, through the work of our social services coordinator, Jason Shaw. “We believe that God is restoring all things back to him,” he said, “and that he cares deeply about all things. Our wellbeing is a big part of that.”
For several years, Jason and Wendy have shared a strong working relationship built on the same goal: caring for people well. He values Wendy’s “gift of inviting people into different spaces and allowing them to be heard” and appreciates Health Action Trust’s commitment to collaboration. “I often find that our values around caring for the community align very closely with other organisations, so it makes sense to work together,” he told me.
Check out other articles in the
series below.
More articles in the
series are to come.
