A man on a mission - Matt's Good Walk
Matt Rose Charity Walker
A journey of a 1400km begins with a single step and for Queenstown investment manager Matt Rose, that step comes early Monday morning [February 20] when he leaves Ship Cove in the Marlborough Sounds.
He plans to keep walking all the way down the mountainous backbone of the South Island – the Te Araroa Trail – until 70 days later he is walking, (maybe limping a bit) over the last hill to finish at Stirling Point, Bluff.
It’s a walk to raise money for 10 handpicked charities, but also for himself, he admits on the phone from Queenstown.
The Christchurch City Mission is on his list and Matt, a born and bred Aucklander, says his reasons have much to do with his connection to Christchurch and his family’s respect for our work.
He went to Canterbury University, his wife, Rachel, is from Christchurch, and his daughters were boarding at Rangi Ruru in Christchurch when the earthquakes struck in 2011.
“We have seen Christchurch in its heyday, then post-earthquake on its knees, and when you think of everything over the last 12 years since those quakes - the mosque terror attacks - the range of challenges for Christchurch have been extreme.”
Matt says the Mission has been a stalwart for the city no matter what blows have landed. He has many friends who support the Mission “and in our own small way over the years we've been donors to the City Mission for various appeals”.
“So, it's just had place in our hearts and minds for many years.”
There is another special link. Increasingly at the Mission we are caring for people whose basic care issues are complicated by serious mental health illnesses. It’s an issue the whole region is facing in many ways.
As part of his motivation for his walk, Matt reveals on his website that he has faced his own mental health challenges in the years since the pandemic started.
They have led him to query his relevance and competence his validity and his wider place in the community and they led to worry, self-doubt, and a lack of self-confidence.
This 1400km walk at 61 years old is a goal that will bring good for both himself, and others through his fundraising, and it feels the right thing to do.
Matt says he will make it to Bluff “body willing” but an enormous part of a challenge like this is mental resilience – “the top two inches”, as he puts it.
“I will be hurting for parts of it. I will be thinking, what the hell am I doing? But then I will think about the causes.”
To follow Matt’s walk and donate in support, please go to his website https://www.mattsgoodwalk.nz/