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More Gloriavale residents leaving but struggling to survive

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 14 Nov 2019, 7:01PM
(Photo / File)

More Gloriavale residents leaving but struggling to survive

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Thu, 14 Nov 2019, 7:01PM

It's the small community on the west coast that captures everybody's attention, but is the cult of Gloriavale slowly unravelling?

Two large families have left the closed off group in the past three weeks, and ex-members have been speaking out against the community with increased velocity.

Tonight sees the first of two fundraising suppers for leavers put on by the Gloriavale Leavers Support Trust.

Former Gloriavale resident James Harrison told Andrew Dickens that in the five years since his family left, there has been an increased exodus.

"There will be a core of people that I don't think will ever leave." 

He says that there are a lot of people that are "brainwashed" and will never leave. 

Harrison says that leaving Gloriavale is "tough" and "mind-blowing". 

"Most [leavers] want to avoid the pressure that leaders and other people will put on them, the emotional pressure that try to put on them to stay." 

Trying to establish a life outside of the community is "incredibly difficult", Harrison says. 

"It's a slow road to get on your feet financially." 

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