One of our Auckland therapists, Alison Talmage, was awarded one of the Kiwibank Local Hero medals on 26 November. The Kiwibank Local Hero Award recognises a person whose selflessness and determination has made a difference in the community.
Ali co-founded CeleBRation Choir ten years ago. The CeleBRation Choir (an initiative of the University of Auckland’s Centre for Brain Research) is a therapeutic community singing group for adults living with an acquired neurological condition, such as stroke, aphasia, Parkinson’s disease, dementia or traumatic brain injury. Ali has also established a community group north of Auckland ‘Sing Up Rodney’. Alison is also a doctoral student at the University of Auckland and specialises in community singing for adults with acquired communication difficulties related to a neurological condition.
On behalf of Music Therapy New Zealand, we congratulate Alison for her tireless dedication which has been recognised and appreciated with this award. It is wonderful to have such committed and passionate colleagues!
Picture: Auckland Central Local Hero medal recipients.
