Local Focus: Rotorua ukulele club now a confidence-building social hub

Rotorua's UkeBox meets on the third Sunday of each month to sing, strum and spend time together.

What began seven years ago as a way to bring the joy of ukulele music to Rotorua, turned into a regular social hub for many over-60s.

Organiser Julie Parsons said she and her ThermaLele bandmates began UkeBox as "a way for us to build confidence behind the mic, as well as to give people a community thing they could come to and sing along with the ukulele".

Parsons said it wasn't only her and her bandmates' confidence that benefited from the sessions. She reckons that as people age they lose their sense of self-confidence but she says the monthly get-togethers build confidence among those attending.

Social connection has been the mainstay of UkeBox. Parsons said during the Covid pandemic they "didn't miss one monthly sing-along, strum-along" and while numbers did fall slightly they "just had a sing-a-long at home with people."

"It's nice to see people feeling like they can come out again and have that social contact."

Parsons calls the health benefits that come with staying connected and confident a "by-product" of UkeBox and would like to see people of all ages take part adding "even if it's just one strum per bar, that's fine".