Those living outside of NZ’s main centres rarely have access to music therapy, with a 2016 report from Music Therapy NZ finding only eight of the country’s Registered Music Therapists working beyond Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch. Following this report, the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust made the decision to work strategically to sustainably expand beyond Auckland and to bring life-changing music therapy to regional New Zealand. This decision resulted in the opening of our Hawke’s Bay Regional Centre in 2018 and our Northland Regional Centre in 2019.
In recent years, Raukatauri and Music Therapy NZ have consistently received enquiries from the Bay of Plenty. As this region is completely unserved, like Northland was prior to our opening there, Raukatauri decided to open its next Regional Centre in the Bay of Plenty and applied to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage’s CARE (Creative Arts Recovery and Employment) Fund for the funds needed to do this. We were absolutely thrilled when they awarded us $450,000 over three years to open in the Bay of Plenty – the largest grant in Raukatauri’s history!
Beginning in early 2022, our Bay of Plenty Regional Centre will be open three days a week in Tauranga, with our therapist also spending one day per week at a Rotorua community satellite and a second day at a Whakatane community satellite. We will also provide highly subsidized outreach services at schools and disability organisations for community groups who want to provide growth and development opportunities for their students and clients through music. We’re just starting to accept referrals for clients and to organise meetings with disability groups in the region, so please get in touch if you’d like to chat with us about how to access music therapy in the Bay of Plenty. We can’t wait to meet you!
