Will Darbyshire had been our lone Bay-based music therapist since we launched the Regional Centre in 2018. Stationed primarily in Napier and Havelock North, Will also travelled to a number of homes and schools across Hastings! After much deliberation, Will made the decision to return home to Australia in March this year, to be with his growing extended family, including a brand new nephew who he has been unable to visit since lockdown. We would like to acknowledge the amazing work Will has been doing down in the Bay.
Will joined Raukatauri in 2018 from Australia as a new graduate, and only a few months later travelled down the North Island to take on the enormous task of establishing our first Regional Centre in Hawke’s Bay. His ability to form key relationships, as well as building rapport and trust with families and Outreach partners, has provided a wonderful foundation from which the Centre has been able to flourish.
In 2020, Will started an exciting, short-term instrument and music making workshop at Mosaic, an innovative support service offered by Enliven Disability Services that works alongside young people living with disability. The popularity of this initial programme proved to be infectious and led to weekly sessions with the young adults served by Enliven Disability Services. Will has also been busy over the past year providing outreach music therapy services to students at a number of Fairhaven Special School’s base and satellite locations. We are thrilled that Mosaic and Fairhaven joined the Raukatauri Hawke’s Bay whānau this year.
Will has done such an incredible job, working with families, schools and community groups across Napier, Havelock North and Hastings, and his work has meant so much to the families and clients that he has connected with. And of course, although we were sad to see Will go, we are thrilled to be joined by Ella Polczyk who has taken over the role of Hawke’s Bay Regional Centre Manager.
We have actually been trying for over a year to get Ella here from across the pond! In June 2020, Ella was set to join us from the UK and become the newest member of the Northland team, but she was unable to make it over due to COVID travel restrictions. However, in December, we finally got word that Ella was granted a position in quarantine and would be able to start with us, and to instead start a new journey in the Hawke’s Bay.
Ella has trained as a musician from a young age focusing on jazz performance and specialising in playing the clarinet and saxophone. Having toured throughout the UK and internationally with jazz bands, she continued to develop her understanding and knowledge of jazz at Bath Spa University partaking in several ensembles, big bands and smaller gypsy jazz bands. After graduating, Ella worked in California teaching music and horse riding, then returned to study music therapy at the University of the West of England. During the course, Ella worked with a variety of clients including children with special educational needs, adults with mental health difficulties and people affected by HIV/AIDS. In Ella's third and final year of university she set up a music therapy programme in Uganda with a fellow colleague at a centre for people affected by HIV/AIDS. This fuelled an interest for working with individuals from different cultures and experiencing music therapy in different settings.
Most recently, she had been working as a music therapist for a charity that supports young people who have experienced trauma as well as at a school for the deaf. With a passion for health and wellness, playing and watching live music and gigs, and being active, Ella was so excited to make the move to New Zealand to start a new chapter, and we are so excited to have her!
It’s with sadness that we say farewell to the amazing Will, but with happiness that we say haere mai to the incredible Ella.