Riverside commemoration sites growing in Christchurch

MEDIA RELEASE

21 February 2012 

The Mental Health Foundation is supporting Healthy Christchurch's and the Avon-Otakaro Network's series of commemorative events they’ve devised to mark the first-year anniversary of the devastating 22 February earthquake that changed the face of the city forever.

The River Of Flowers event gives people an opportunity to reflect on their experiences, memories and losses in a number of ways: dropping flowers into the water, and writing messages to be pinned to a Tree of Hope for others to read. 

“The two acts represent important parts of the grieving process,” says Judi Clements, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation. “The dropping of flowers is about letting go, and the message is about looking to the future.” 

The Foundation views the event as an important way for communities to show solidarity and connectedness. 

“Research has shown that taking the time to write about your feelings makes it easier to open up to friends and family, and can help to improve mood,” Ms Clements says.

“Events like the River of Flowers encourage us all to take notice and be in the moment, which is one of the five winning ways to wellbeing that we’ve been promoting over the past six months. Other ways include connecting with others, learning, being active and giving, and there are elements of all these in this commemorative project.” 

A community driven initiative, the River of Flowers is happening at a number of sites, which are continuing to be added all over the city, with 15 confirmed so far.

Please visit the Healthy Christchurch website for the most up-to-date maps and lists of sites. 

For more information:

Chris Banks
DDI: 09 966 5725
Mobile: 021 036 0368
Email: chris   "at" mentalhealth.org.nz