Celebrating a year of wellness: BrainTree
1 June 2023 marked the 1st birthday of BrainTree, and what a fantastic year it has been, with the centre almost fully tenanted, and its retail shop, studio, gym, meeting, and consult rooms enjoying regular patronage from the wider community, while its commercial café buzzes with customers.
General Manager Phil Marshall-Lee says “We have been blown away with the local support and momentum we have achieved in the first 12 months. Each week just gets busier and more varied, and we are excited to have Cancer Society opening soon next door.” By 2040, the number of Cantabrians with neurological conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Dementia, Stroke, and Parkinson’s, is expected to double to more than 30,000. However, significant data now proves that people living with these conditions who adopt a total wellness approach enjoy better lives.
Total wellness is achieved through physical activity, social connection, cognitive stimulation, healthy nutrition, sleep and specialist wellbeing services.
Total wellness encourages people to take steps for themselves to change their lifestyles to help them live well with their conditions.
In 2017, The Canterbury Brain Collective Ltd (CBC) – a registered charity and partnership between MS and Parkinson’s Canterbury, and Dementia Canterbury – was established. Its goal was to develop a wellness centre for local people living with neurological conditions that would help them live their lives to their full potential.
In June 2022, BrainTree opened to the public. Dementia Canterbury and MS and Parkinson’s have now been joined by other tenants at BrainTree, all connected with brain health and wellness, including Stroke Foundation, Aspire Canterbury, Southern Music Therapy, Adult Conductive Education, Aphasia NZ, Cantabrainers Choir, Happy Brain, and Disabled Persons Assembly.
Come and meet us
Leesa, Eilish, Ange, and Phil are the friendly BrainTree team onsite.
Assisted by some very generous volunteers; their goal is to ensure people living with neurological conditions and their carers have a welcoming, positive, non-judging and fulfilling experience at BrainTree, to be able to live a better life.
Bookings for conferences, seminars, and private functions are welcome, subject to availability. Contact leesa@canterburybraincollective.org to book or for more information.
CBC and the BrainTree collective wish to thank all donors, funders, partners, sponsors, and supporters for their huge generosity so far in helping realise its vision to establish this first-of-its-kind wellness centre for brain health in New Zealand.
BrainTree welcomes further donations and funding to support its operational expenses to continue to run the new centre.
With visitor and disabled parking at 70 Langdons Road, Papanui, hours are 8.30am to 5pm weekdays.
Enjoy a barista-made coffee and delicious, wholesome food, all available for purchase at the Summerset sponsored public café.
For more information on BrainTree and how to donate, contact info@canterburybraincollective.org,
visit www.canterburybraincollective.org , or follow on www.facebook.com/braintreewellnesscentre
