Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust Celebrates 20th Birthday

 Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust (RMTT) today celebrates 20 years of providing life changing music therapy services to those who need it most.

The Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust was co-founded in March 2004 by singer and songwriter Dame Hinewehi Mohi, naming the Trust after her daughter. Hineraukatauri was born with severe cerebral palsy and received music therapy for the first time while on a family trip to London in 1999 to promote Hinewehi’s album. During these sessions, Hineraukatauri was able to engage and communicate in ways not previously thought possible, making her family determined to bring the life changing benefits of music therapy home to Aotearoa.

From its early beginnings in Auckland, the charitable trust has since established Centres across the Upper North Island, responding to need and targeting underserviced areas. The first Regional Centre opened in Hawke’s Bay in 2019, swiftly followed by Northland in the same year, and more recently Bay of Plenty in 2022.

Its team of Registered Music Therapists deliver services to approximately 1,000 clients per week, ranging in age from infants to those in their 90s. These clients have a range of needs, including cerebral palsy, autism spectrum, developmental disabilities, genetic conditions such as Down syndrome, acquired brain injuries, mental health challenges, dementia, and complex trauma.

“One of Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust's fundamental values is that we never want finances to be a barrier to accessing music therapy. With that in mind, we subsidise every therapy session that we provide, despite receiving no direct government funding,” shares Rachel Farrell, General Manager, Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust. “The remaining costs of delivering music therapy must be raised through grant applications, fundraisers, donations, and our monthly giving program.”

With an increase in the cost of living, and a decrease in funding, the Trust is facing the reality of a reduction of services. To ensure that the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust can continue to provide quality, accessible music therapy services to all people, whatever their needs, it is announcing its biggest fundraiser yet.

Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust will bring home the record for the official Guinness World Record for the Largest Haka at Eden Park on Sunday 29th September 2024.

The official Guinness World Record for the Largest Haka is currently held by 4,028 men and women performed 10 years ago in France. Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust’s attempt will be adjudicated through Guinness World Records, with an estimated 10,000 – 15,000 to perform the haka on the grounds that has helped to drive it to global infamy.

The most recent attempt to bring this record home was staged in Rotorua in 2017, but due to administrative delays, unfortunately this attempt was not officially verified by Guinness World Records. Tony Molloy, the organiser of the 2017 event, has offered his full support to the Trust at this year’s event.

“The Haka, is an iconic symbol of Aotearoa, that is undeniably ours,” shares Dame Hinewehi Mohi. "The growth and interest in haka shows the collective efforts for the reclamation and revitalisation of our unique heritage. It also reflects the partnership between Māori and Pākehā, in expressing cultural pride and nationhood.”

“Just as music therapy allows our clients to express themselves, the Haka is a way of expressing a range of emotions, in an unequivocal display of aroha and kotahitanga/unity.”

“On Sunday 29th September 2024, we will stage a spectacle, to bring our nation together, to set the record straight, and raise funds for the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust to continue to transform lives through music.”

More information on how to register to take part in the official Guinness World Record will be announced in the coming months.

For more information on Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust, and learn how to donate, please visit www.rmtc.org.nz.

ENDS

About Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust

The Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust was established in March 2004 by singer Dame Hinewehi Mohi, who named it after her daughter, Hineraukatauri who has severe cerebral palsy. Hineraukatauri and thousands of other New Zealanders, have found a way to express themselves through music therapy. RMTT services are delivered via a clinical practice rooted in the humanistic model of music therapy which recognises each individual client’s uniqueness and worth. Their mission is to work with any person in need, to enrich and develop their lives through music.

Nā Puoro, ko taurikura / Music transforms us

www.rmtc.org.nz

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