We would love to introduce you to Ella Polczyk, our new Hawke’s Bay Regional Centre Manager! Ella comes to us originally from the UK, and has been training as a musician from a young age. Her specialities are jazz performance, playing the clarinet, and saxophone! We are going to really miss Will Darbyshire who made the decision to return back home to Australia to join his growing extended family, but are excited by the new adventures that Ella is about to embark on.
Raukatauri Reaches Further North
Every Monday, Holly McPhee makes the drive with a pile of instruments from our Northland Regional Centre in Whangārei to the wild west coast of the Kaipara. Holly starts her day with a lively music therapy session at Ruawai Primary School, before heading to Dargaville Primary School for individual and group sessions with local students. Learning Support Coordinator Matt Colville had this to say about Ruawai Primary School’s music therapy sessions in the Kaipara:
Grafton Centre Opening Celebration
It was another huge milestone for the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust when we officially opened our Grafton centre with an intimate cocktail reception on the 18th of March – which was also our 17th birthday! While our new Grafton centre opened its doors in June 2020, our official celebration plans were delayed by COVID, so it was absolutely fantastic to celebrate the growth and success of the trust with long-time supporters from throughout our 18 year history.
Shining bright with Client Concerts
Last year we launched a client concert series after hearing from families during our evaluation process that some of our clients would like the chance to perform. Children and young people have the opportunity to show off their amazing musical skills to a gathering of friends and family. Our first concert was held in the Pōhutukawa Room of our Grafton Centre in November 2020 and a full house enjoyed songs, piano and harp performances, and even an underwater animal dance choreographed by one of our clients and her Dance Movement Therapy student. This first concert proved to be such a hit that we immediately organised a Christmas concert which featured rousing renditions of holiday favourites such as ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘Feliz Navidad’ and ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’.
Celebrating music therapy at Selwyn
After a successful music therapy pilot programme in 2019, The Selwyn Foundation was thrilled to receive a grant from the Charles Rupert Stead Charitable Trust which enabled them to work with Raukatauri to expand their music therapy services in 2020. This grant has allowed Raukatauri’s Registered Music Therapist Alicia, Student Music Therapist Hannah and Dance Movement Therapy Student Annie to run small group and individual sessions with clients attending Selwyn’s Anchorage and Lavender Cottage dementia day centres, and for residents in its Ivan Ward care centre including the Brian Wells House memory support unit at Selwyn Village.
Creative Responses for Challenging Times
As the country moved to control the Covid-19 outbreak in late March, the RMTC team found itself trying to imagine how to respond in a way that was most supportive to our clients. As families with loved ones impacted by disability and illness, we knew that many in the Raukatauri whānau would face challenges from the lockdown beyond the rising stress and uncertainty that all New Zealanders were experiencing. In brainstorming how we would respond as an organisation, we quickly recognized the need for continued access to the music therapy services that our clients found so valuable, reassuring and stimulating prior to this upheaval in their lives. As the Level Four quarantine measures were announced, the move to online services became not just a possibility, but an essential resource to provide for our clients and their families.
New Centre for Raukatauri
After ten years in our beloved Grey Lynn villa, the sale of the property by our landlords meant it was time to seek a new home. With the considerable expansion over recent years it was an opportunity to find a Centre with a little more space, and one which was slightly more fit for purpose. After an extensive search lasting six months, a new location in Grafton was identified which, having been an open plan office space previously, required quite a few modifications:
Six60 auction off memorabilia to support the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre
Iconic New Zealand band, Six60, is donating valuable musical and personal items to financially support the life-changing work of the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre!
Six60’s memorabilia went live for bidding on New Zealand auction site Trade Me at 6pm on Saturday 14th March. 100% of auction proceeds will be donated to RMTC, to assist with the transformative work the therapists do for their clients. Items up for sale include the customised jacket Matiu Walters wore at the latest sold-out Western Springs concert, a variety of the band’s instruments and several other personal collector items.
Music Therapy Arrives on Waiheke Island
After lots of planning and even more fundraising, Raukatauri’s latest school partnership, this time with the Waiheke Island Schools, began in Term 3. Registered Music Therapist Gwen Evans catches the ferry each Thursday morning and arrives to a busy day on the island where she zips between all three schools (Waiheke Primary, Te Huruhi Primary and Waiheke High School), working with 16 children and young people with special needs each week. Having only arrived in New Zealand in June, Gwen couldn’t believe her luck as the RMTC staff member who was given the assignment to travel weekly to one of the country’s most gorgeous spots. Not only is the commute beautiful, Gwen has been welcomed with open arms on the island, with parents and school staff running her between locations and the wharf each week.
