03 April 2024 - 0 Comments
MusicHelps annual fundraising initiative NZ Music T-Shirt Day is taking place on Friday 3rd May 2024 as part of NZ Music Month. NZ Music T-Shirt Day is all about celebrating great New Zealand music, raising awareness for the important work of MusicHelps and showing your support by sporting your favourite artists or band tee.
NZ Music T-Shirt Day raises funds for MusicHelps, a charity that helps the most vulnerable in our communities by supporting projects that use the power of music to help and heal. This includes music therapy sessions, music programs in respite and palliative care, music education programs for the at-risk and vulnerable and rehabilitation programs to name a few. They also provide free professional counselling and emergency financial wellbeing support to kiwi music workers. Since inception, they have positively impacted the lives of over 90,000 people across Aotearoa.
MusicHelps
supports initiatives and provides grants to a variety of communities across
Aotearoa, from Whanganui to Tamaki Makaurau, Hamilton to Dunedin, Wellington to
Whangārei. Some highlights of communities that Musichelps has supported this
year include:
- Swan Nest in Wellington, a charity
providing therapy, support and advocacy for children who are living with
complex health conditions or terminal illness and their families. MusicHelps
supports their Music Therapy programme, which provides them with tools to make
sense of the world they are living in, in a fun and meaningful way.
- The Music4us Puoro Mō Taatou Music
Education Trust in Dunedin which enables ‘at-risk’ youth access to music
education and tuition; including them in a community that celebrates the
cultures and communities of those involved.
- Whanganui’s Other Orchestra - who
have been running since 2015 - run weekly sessions led by a facilitator and
invited music guests. They provide a safe musical environment to people from
all walks of life, especially those disadvantaged by health, disability, social
or financial circumstances.
- The KiwiOra Community Trust in
Auckland provides a ‘Notes of Hope’ outreach programme collaborates with
experienced musicians, providing music lessons
to rangatahi from families with limited financial means. They encourage
musical performance and serve as a platform for giving disaffected youth
dignity and purpose and instils inspiration in the minds and souls of the
participants.
MusicHelps is also pleased to have recently announced our first MusicHelps Music Therapy Award to Kate Owen. The award is for wāhine identifying students who have been accepted into the Master of Music Therapy Programme at Victoria University. Presented in collaboration with Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust and The Kate Edger Educational Charitable Trust, the recipient of the award received an $8,000 scholarship for one year of study, and if they are in their second year of study, the award will include a supported student placement with the Raukatauri Music Therapy Trust.
From singers to sound engineers, managers to musicians, MusicHelps service is available to anyone involved in the Aotearoa music industry to ensure people are taken care of when they need it most. Initiatives such as the annual New Zealand Music T-Shirt Day are vital to ensure Musichelps are not only celebrating the array of talented musicians we have throughout Aotearoa, but in order to continuously deliver their grants and services to anyone and everyone - the very people that bring us the music we love, and all those around it.
For a full list of kiwi bands and artists who are currently selling merchandise online, please head to: https://www.nzmusictshirtday.org.nz/t-shirts-and-merchandise
If you are lacking a NZ band tee (or struggling to make a decision!) please visit: www.nzmusicmonth.co.nz/buy-nz-music-month-merchandise/
The net profits of all official NZ Music Month T-Shirts are donated to MusicHelps.
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