Run72 raises more than $35,000 to fund free counselling for UC Students

Canta staff Sophie, Imy, Matteo and Milly representing the Canta team at Run72.

Lads Without Label’s Run72 has raised more than $35,000 to fund free counseling sessions for University of Canterbury students.

Run72 is Lads Without Label’s flagship event where UC Students and members of the community run for 72hrs, ensuring that there is always at least one person running. All of this is to raise funds and awareness for men’s mental health.                 

Runners, including a team from Canta, lapped the course around campus for 72hrs in late September.

President of Lads Without Labels, Tom Vincent told Canta that this year's Run72 had been incredible, with all their goals surpassed.

“Lads without Labels is to break down the stigma of mental health, especially within men, in New Zealand, and especially within University of Canterbury,” he said.

The event lasts 72hrs to represent the fact that previously 72% of suicides in New Zealand are carried out by men in New Zealand.

"That has risen to 76% in the last few years, so we really want to raise awareness about that, get people talking, create a safe space and environment, and break down those barriers so that number goes down to zero,” said Vincent.

More than $35,000 had been raised with 18,000 laps run, compared to last year where Run72 raised $11,000 with 9,100 laps run.

Funds raised go towards the Lads Without Labels counselling initiative which offers an alternative free counselling option initially available to UC students.

For every $150 raised, one more student can sit down with a professional counsellor and get the help they need.

“Our goal was for $31,200, which is 4 sessions a week for a whole year, so that is 208 hours of counselling, so that is 104 people, 104 Uni students, that can get help that they need,” said Vincent.

He estimated around 2,500 people had taken part in the 72hrs of running which he said was mind blowing for the Lads without Labels team.

“We had Lincoln Uni students, we had Ara students, we had old and young, we had kids, we had all sorts of people come down,” he said.

Lads Without labels is only a young club, having only been around for four years, and they’ve been running Run72 for the last three years.

The aim is to set a motion for change by pursuing initiatives that create supportive environments, encourage uplifting kōrero and yield systematic change from the ground up.

They want both tāne and our young people to be equipped to have these conversations, get support when needed, and understand that it is okay to be vulnerable.

Vincent said that the hope was to keep growing and surpass 20,000 laps and $50,000 in Run72 2024.