It is with sadness that we inform you that our wellbeing gym, The Well is closing its doors at the end of this month.
Due to the current economic climate, it is no longer possible for CoLiberate to continue operating this service. Despite the tremendous support from our current well-goers and our mutual support partners, two/fiftyseven, CoLiberate has had to make the difficult decision to close The Well’s public timetable of wellbeing sessions indefinitely.
We know that this service has been really important to many and we want to acknowledge just how much we’re grateful for your presence and engagement during the last 2 years. Providing opportunities to connect, reflect, express and relax together has been delightful and rewarding. Thank you for showing up!
We are celebrating delivering 455 sessions since our opening, offering an opportunity for 349 people to value their mental health actively by practising with us at The Well.
The Well was our third iteration of the mental health gym (see previous iterations here) that launched in July 2021, two years ago, with gusto! With the support of 314 pledgers from our crowdfunding campaign, national news coverage and a passionate team, we launched a timetable of wellbeing sessions centring on the experiences of relaxation, expression, reflection and connection. It took off! However, this momentum was short lived due to the second lockdown that Aotearoa went into 5 weeks later, bringing a stop to all face to face services. With the covid-mandate introduced shortly after and covid-19 circling among our community, we had to significantly scale back The Well’s offerings. We never thought it would take over a year to build back up and recover after that lockdown, despite some online sessions and an increasing need for local wellbeing support services.
In the past few months, The Well has been on an epic growth trajectory with a significant amount of returning members and new attendees every week. We introduced a new monthly retreat session at weekends and entered into new partnerships with neighbouring organisations, however, despite its growth, we’ve still had to stop to reevaluate the financial sustainability of this service.
We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our amazing team, including Laura, Mithun, Alex, Joana, George, Rosie, Grainne, along with previous facilitators, who have worked tirelessly to provide the highest quality of care and who have been exceptional in creating a welcoming and open peerful space to practice self-care together.
We would like to acknowledge two/fiftyseven, Kelsey, Ash, and Jules for their unwavering support to launch and operate The Well on site. Two/fiftyseven has been a sanctuary amidst the hustle and bustle, and a true home for us.
Although we are closing, the vision behind The Well lives on in all of the people who make their wellbeing a top priority and a weekly practice! We hope that you continue to find opportunities for relaxation, connection, expression and reflection in whatever that looks like for you!
What this means for your Well Pass:
The following sessions will be running until the 31st August 2023:
Tuesday 12:10-12:55pm Yoga Flow with Joana
Thursday 12:10-12:55pm Grounding Meditation with Mithun
Book here: www.thewellwgtn.co.nz
If you’re able to use your Well Pass by attending our final sessions, we’d love to see you! If not, you are welcome to contact us directly to request refunding of any remaining session pass credit.
Although this is the end of The Well as we know it, it’s not the end of CoLiberate. CoLiberate is still operating its flagship Mental Health First Response Skills Training programme, Empathetic Leadership Training and partnering with organisations to develop robust ecosystems of care within the workplace.
We may still be able to offer some of The Well’s services onsite at your workplace. If you’re seeking a whole-workplace approach to wellbeing and support, please contact us to talk about setting up a Well at your work.
