Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust

We are delighted to see our funding and resources are helping Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust, which provides subsidised or free music therapy for people with disabilities or mental health conditions in the Northland, Auckland, and Hawke’s Bay communities.

1. What are you doing? 

We’re providing a game-changing professional development program for our hard-working music therapists and support staff. The core of this programme is furthering our engagement with te ao Māori, particularly Mātauranga Māori in our therapeutic approach in accordance with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

2. What inspired you to do what you’re doing?

We were founded in 2004 by Dame Hinewehi Mohi and named for her daughter, Hineraukatauri, who herself is named for the Māori goddess of music. Our origins are rooted in te ao Māori, but with music therapy being a qualification that has only recently become available in Aotearoa, the majority of our staff are from overseas.

Our name and history carries with it expectations of familiarity with te ao Māori and organisation-wide Treaty partnership, and with over a third of our clients being of Māori descent, we take this very seriously. As a small charity, we haven’t had the opportunity until now to commit resources to furthering this commitment and embedding this knowledge among our team. We have been inspired by the nationwide discourse around matauranga Māori and our own whakapapa to engage in this important Kaupapa.

3. Why did you choose to focus on this topic?

We recently connected with Pukenga Psychology, a specialist organisation that helps psychologists and others in this space to engage with te ao Māori and to develop their organisational Treaty partnership. Jess Gerbic, who we have worked with through Pukenga, has a deep understanding of what we do and its importance for the thousands of whānau we work with. This partnership led us to focus on this topic for our January Team Weekend, a rare opportunity for our team to get together in the same place at the same time to learn and connect.

4. What made you decide to apply for an HealthCarePlus Grant for Good? (where did you hear about it)

Our charitable model means that the vast majority of grants and donations we are able to obtain go directly towards music therapy provision. We rarely have additional funds available to commit to our team in this way, but we are very aware that the quality of our work depends upon this kind of opportunity. Grants that support professional development are few and far between, yet for organisations like ours they are vital for executing our charitable purpose. We are so grateful to HealthCarePlus for understanding this, and for enabling our far-flung team to get together in person for some really valuable training that will have positive repercussions in our mahi for years to come.

5. How was your experience in Appling for the grant?

The two-part process of an EOI followed by formal application presented some challenges for our team but we were able to work through them. Some technical difficulties with the portal arose but the HealthCarePlus team were responsive and great to work with as we navigated this. The application requirements themselves were in keeping with grants of a similar value.

6. How has funding from HealthCarePlus helped?

Without a doubt, we would not have been able to bring the team together without this funding. Being able to be together in our Northland Regional Centre and then in the uniquely historic environs of Waitangi has had a substantial impact on our team culture in general and interaction with Te Tiriti and the Te Whare Tapa Whā clinical model in particular in the intervening months. The positive implications of this continue to be evident in our work every day.

7. What does this grant mean to you?

This grant has not only had the practical impact described above but also means a lot to us because HealthCarePlus acknowledge and recognise that even small charitable workforces need some time to engage in team building, training, and in-person activities. This is a rarity and is much appreciated. 

8. What would you say to others considering but hesitant in applying for a grant?

We completely understand that applying for grants takes a lot of time that charitable organisations rarely have to hand, and that most of the time it’s the ones that ‘keep the lights on’ that are prioritised. However, we would really encourage any team, particularly ones that are geographically disparate and/or embarking on significant organisation-wide learnings, to apply for this grant. The difference it makes to day-to-day operations can be enormous.

9. What advice would you give to future Grants for Good applicants?

Ensure all your ducks are in a row before you send in the EOI – you never know, you just might get it!

10. What are you hoping to achieve?

The project achieved a new level of team interaction and cohesion that the Trust hadn’t seen till now as a result of bringing everyone together in these key locations for our mahi. We achieved major milestones on our Roadmap to Te Tiriti partnership, including the exploration and implementation of Te Whare Tapa Whā in our clinical practice. These combined achieve a better quality level of service for our whānau and a better working environment for our team.

11. In what way will your course help make a positive impact on others?

Our team and the over 1,000 whānau every week we work with are being positively impacted long-term by this project, including the organisations and caregivers they work with. The following topics were covered at the Team Weekend: Te Tiriti, Te Whare Tapa Whā, recorded music in dementia care, Northland Regional operations, Rainbow awareness, utilisation of taonga pūoro (Māori musical instruments), and the Trust’s strategic plan. Engagement with these continues meaningfully in all kinds of ways, positively impacting people with disabilities and chronic mental health conditions across the Northland, Auckland, and Hawke’s Bay regions.

If you are interested and want to know more this year's Grants for Good and how to apply for one then click below.

Got an idea to

MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE?

Then apply for our "Grants for Good" program.