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Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Crew seeking funds to take show on road
Writer and performer Chelsea McRae sings her heart out about saying the wrong thing out loud and letting go of past hurt in Therapy: A Musical Comedy. PHOTO: RIVER QUINN Funding the arts is a full-time gig, say the team behind Dunedin-created show Therapy: A Musical Comedy. Written by Dunedin-based playwright and performer Chelsea McRae, with music by Mario Sadra-de Jong, and debuted at the 2024 Dunedin Fringe Festival, the award-winning show is about cults, comedy and closure. Having toured to five cities, winning a Fringe Touring Award along the way, Therapy: A Musical Comedy is off to Auckland next month. To fund the trip, the team behind the show — McRae, Sadra-de Jong, and Cody McRae, have been battling for financial support, reaching out to local businesses and groups. And with Creative New Zealand's funding slashed by the government earlier this year, the competition for funding has been at an all time high. For this reason, the team have turned to Arts NZ's creative platform Boosted to raise the funds. McRae said, in a statement, the show was not just a passion project, but was part of the team's careers. "This show is important," McRae said. She wrote the script based on her own lived experience of overcoming the loss of a parent to suicide and overcoming the trauma of sexual assault. "We've had people engage in therapy themselves because of this show. We've spoken to people who have felt destigmatised by the open and honest conversations we have about trauma in this show. "Art should not be left out of the equation — art changes people's lives." The Boosted campaign continues until Friday, June 27, with a goal of raising $2000. For more information, or to donate, go to — APL
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Signs of elder abuse in spotlight
The serious, but often hidden, issue of elder abuse in New Zealand is top of mind for the Age Concern Otago team, which is working hard to keep older people in the region safe. This Sunday is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a time to shine a light on the mistreatment of older people and call for collective action to stand up for seniors and ensure they can live with dignity, respect and safety. Age Concern Otago chief executive Mike Williams, who took up the role in January, said the organisation's dedicated Elder Abuse Response Service (EARS) team were busier than ever. The EARS team of four social workers, led by Central Otago-based Rosanna Pritchard, supported 387 older people last year experiencing alleged elder abuse across the region. Types of abuse reported included emotional, financial and physical abuse, along with neglect — often at the hands of those they trusted most. Across New Zealand, Age Concern was involved in 2817 cases of elder abuse from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. Of those allegedly causing the harm, 88% were family members, of which 50% were adult children or grandchildren. Age Concern New Zealand chief executive Karen Billings-Jensen said elder abuse was not just a private issue, it was "a community issue". "On World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, we urge all New Zealanders to learn the signs of abuse, speak up and support older people in their lives and communities." This year, Age Concern's theme for World Elder Abuse Awareness Day is "spot the signs". It calls on individuals, whānau, community groups, organisations and businesses to help raise awareness and take appropriate action. Ms Pritchard said the Age Concern Otago EARS team, which comprised Dunedin-based social workers Tim Ollerenshaw and Trici Grothe-Robertson, Oamaru-based social worker Sharon McGregor and Dunedin-based community social worker Annie Nevin, were dealing with increasingly complex cases of elder abuse. "Unfortunately, older people are finding that the health services and other back-stops they may have relied on in the past have vanished," she said. In addition, more older people were living in trailers and caravans and moving around more, which made it difficult to maintain support networks. Families were also often scattered around New Zealand and overseas. On the flip side of the coin, some older people were finding themselves caring for adult children who had returned home due to economic circumstances or issues with drugs, alcohol or mental health. "Financial abuse is a major issue — we are seeing lots and lots of money being taken from older people," she said. "And this is really distressing for our clients — these are people that they love and should be able to trust." When there were difficulties with family members, the Age Concern team could be a buffer and provide confidential support. "Our focus is on the older person and what they want and need — that is the most important thing." Ms Pritchard said it was encouraging that growing numbers of older people were reaching out to report elder abuse and request support, along with reports by concerned friends, neighbours and family members. EARS is also a member of the local Whāngaia Ngā Pā Harakeke team, part of a national framework through which police, iwi and organisations work in partnership to reduce family harm. Mr Williams said the demand on the Otago EARS team, and the complex nature of many situations, meant the service was under increasing pressure. "Complex situations take longer to unravel and deal with, which adds to the pressure," he said. "We are already working at capacity and are acutely aware that more people are at crisis point and needing our help." Mr Williams came to the Age Concern Otago chief executive role after a long career in the mental health, prisoner rehabilitation and children's health and wellbeing fields. "Since I have been working with the Age Concern team, I have been impressed by the heart and passion they have for our older people," he said. "This is a great organisation, and the services we offer are highly valued by the community." How You Can Help: • Learn to spot the signs of elder abuse and how to respond. • Check in with older friends, neighbours and whānau. • If you or someone you know is experiencing elder abuse, contact Age Concern's Elder Abuse Response Service at 0800652105 (weekdays 8.30am-4.30pm) or the national 24-hour helpline at 0800EANOTOK (08003266865), for free, confidential support. • More information on the free, confidential Age Concern Otago Elder abuse Response Service (EARS) can be found online at
Otago Daily Times
11-06-2025
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Aphasia advocates help share message
The difficulties experienced by people living with aphasia are being spotlighted this month, as New Zealand marks Aphasia Awareness Month. Aphasia is a disorder of communication, where speaking, reading, writing and/or understanding language is impacted. Dunedin-based Aphasia New Zealand community aphasia adviser and speech language therapist Meryl Jones said many people in the community did not know what aphasia actually was, despite 29,000 New Zealanders living with the condition. Aphasia is caused by damage to the language centre in the brain (usually in the left hemisphere), most commonly due to stroke — about one-third of people who have a stroke will experience aphasia. Brain injury, tumour and infection can also result in aphasia, which affects each person differently. Ms Jones said aphasia was a difficult concept for the general population, resulting in people with aphasia often withdrawing from social contact. The situation was summed up by the saying "until you've met it, you just don't get it", she said. "So, we are working to raise community awareness of aphasia and its impact on people's lives," she said. People with aphasia had difficulties with communicating, but this did not mean their cognitive abilities were impaired, making it extremely frustrating. "Because of the very nature of aphasia, it is difficult for people living with it to advocate for themselves," Ms Jones said. "People with aphasia say they would like people to be more patient and to give them time to get out what they want to say — rather than making assumptions or finishing their sentences for them," Ms Jones said. "Other people can help by adapting their own communication and getting to know the person with aphasia's own way of communicating." For therapists, the aim was to give people with aphasia a functional way of communicating, using their strengths, which may include non-verbal strategies, such as gestures. "We also try to educated the people around them, training up their communication partners to give them the right support. "A major goal for us is to support people with aphasia to participate in life." Ms Jones works with a group of Dunedin people who have aphasia through a Korero Club, which meets fortnightly on Tuesdays to enjoy face-to-face conversation. "We have had great friendships formed among the group, with some describing it as the highlight of their week," she said. There is also the Dunedin Aphasia Support Group, a community support group for people with aphasia and their partners, families, whanau and/or carers, which meets on Fridays in Mornington. This group can be contacted via facebook. • For more information and/or support for aphasia, email dunedin@ or phone Meryl Jones on 021 177 0587.
Otago Daily Times
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Awards organisers pull out stops for record numbers
As a record number of contestants swarm Gore for the Gold Guitar Awards, organisers say they have systems, and added venues and vehicles, in place to handle the churn of more than 800 musical entries this year. The auditioning process for the Gold Guitars began across five venues yesterday and convener Philip Geary said their systems for handling this year's 829 entries were reasonably good, but could be better. Given the growth of the awards, Mr Geary said the awards committee was engaging a software writer to create a new program to help organise the contestants, judges' scores and the winners in each of the 31 categories. "[Something] that should just spit everything out, and all we need to do is look at it and confirm it, and that's it," he said. Having worked the awards for 30 years, this was not Mr Geary's first rodeo and he and the other organisers made sure the stage and setup were the same across the auditioning spaces to keep the competition regulated. "We're just trying to create the same environment of what they would do at the finals anyway, so that everybody's on the same level playing field," he said. Gore Country Music Club music committee convener Laurel Turnbull said due to the record number of entries they had engaged all four venues for the auditions as well as added an extra van to act as a courtesy coach between venues. The 12 judges were distributed between the Gore RSA, Gore Town & Country Club, Gore Baptist Church and Calvin Community Church for auditions, but would come together at the club for the finals on Saturday and Sunday nights. Invercargill-raised and Dunedin-based musician Holly Muirhead, 21, who said she had first entered the contest when she was 13, said the competition was massive this year. "When I was back in [the] intermediate [section] there were a lot less contestants and now it's like every class is 50 people," she said. "I don't know how the judges do it." She said the competition had been growing gradually every year and it was nice to see so many new faces in the songwriter and senior (or classic) sections. Mr Geary said the competition's growth, particularly in the younger, intermediate section, happened about 10 to 15 years ago with the rise in popularity of country rock, such as Taylor Swift. "I think it was three years ago [the intermediate section] increased by 30%, which is great, which is big," he said. Ms Muirhead said she agreed with the Taylor Swift effect and said it was the American star's crossover between country and pop which attracted new audiences. She said another of her favourites, five-time Grammy Award nominee Kelsea Ballerini, succeeded in that crossover space. The Dunedin singer/songwriter auditioned with her original song 60 Years about her grandparents' anniversary.
Otago Daily Times
29-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Wildlife capital status gets boost from council
Dunedin's status as the wildlife capital of New Zealand is more secure thanks to $1.2 million in council backing to expand pest elimination efforts, a leader at Predator Free Dunedin says. During this week's long-term-plan deliberations, Dunedin city councillors approved 14 funding requests for the next nine years, totalling about $5.7m. Among the successful requests was Predator Free Dunedin, which will receive $150,000 a year for eight years. Project lead Rhys Millar said retaining Dunedin's status as "wildlife of capital of New Zealand" required investment and the council's backing was important. "In these quite uncertain times at the moment in the environmental sector, it provides us with a baseline confidence for the remainder of that long-term plan cycle," he said. The organisation was close to eliminating possums from the Otago Peninsula and believed there were only three of the pests left. However, "with predator control, you can't walk away really", he said. "This funding allows us to maintain those gains and to [get] ready for the next wave of expansion in the next two years." Predator Free Dunedin's coverage area would expand toward Silver Stream and Silver Peaks. Tools and technology would also be expanded, Mr Millar said. "We've got a strong focus on shifting from possums to eliminating stoats — that's quite a new work programme, which will require quite a lot of resourcing." The organisation would also use the money to leverage more funding from other sources, he said. While no funding went to the Dunedin Tunnel Trails Trust, councillors agreed to updated the existing memorandum of understanding with the trust so it could implant the next stages of the project. About $22.4m in funding for the project had been removed from the draft long-term-plan and at hearings earlier this month, trust chairman Brent Irving said the council needed to return management of the project to the community, who would "get on with the job". Dunedin-based Centre of Digital Excellence received $1.05m across seven years, Startup Dunedin received $900,000 over nine years and the Wildlife Hospital got $300,000 over three years. Funding over the nine-year period was also granted for: Dunedin Tracks Network ($50,000 annually), Tomahawk-Smaills Beach Trust ($15,000 annually, inflation adjusted), Shetland Street Community Gardens ($10,000 annually, 2% adjusted), Town Belt Kaitiaki (funding increased to $50,000 annually), Green Island Combined Sports Bodies Inc ($45,000 annually, subject to service level agreement), Sport Otago ($61,000), the Dunedin Youth Council (funding increased to $10,000 annually) and Swim Dunedin (annual funding of $45,000 adjusted to fully cover rising lane fees). The Otago Nuggets and Southern Hoiho were granted a total of $50,000 over three years, provided the teams could secure a National Basketball League contract.
