Challenge 2000

04/10/2026

Thank you to everyone who came along today - we had a wonderful time and it was great meeting you all!

Our Food Bank is now looking a lot healthier thanks to the amazing donations 🤩

Harvest Festival Food Drive is on now!!
Come on down and join us!
Yummy Food, crochet fidget toys, plants, and fun games!

FREE sausage sizzle!

And bring some food for the food bank 🤩

01/10/2026

🌿🍰 CHALLENGE 2000 HARVEST FESTIVAL BAKING PRE-ORDERS 🍰🌿

We’re baking up a storm for Sunday’s Harvest Festival!

Each premium box includes 6 café-style treats:

🍫 Fudgy brownie
🍋 Lemon slice
🌿 Oaty ginger crunch with crystallised ginger
🍯 Caramel slice
🍪 Café-style cookie
🍎 Mini crumble-top muffin

Only 24 boxes available — $20 each!

🍌 3 SPECIAL BANANA LOAVES — $20 each
Cream cheese icing + edible flower petals 🌸

💳 ORDER BY 3PM FRIDAY
Message us with your name, mobile number and order.

Pay to:
Challenge 2000 Trust
01-0519-0057660-00

Reference: HARVEST + NAME OF PERSON COLLECTING

Payment confirms your order.

📍 COLLECTION
Sunday 4 October | 1–3pm
23 Dr Taylor Terrace, Johnsonville

🍰 BAKING STALL ON SUNDAY

We’ll also have a selection of home baking donated by Challenge 2000 staff and whānau on the day, with the selection depending on what our wonderful bakers contribute.

Every purchase supports Challenge 2000 and our work alongside rangatahi. ❤️

Send a message to learn more

14/09/2026

Come join us for the Challenge 2000 Harvest Festival Food Drive!

There will be Games in the garden - with Prizes, a Sausage sizzle to fill your hungry tummies, and Raffles.
On the day we will also be collecting Non Perishable food to stock up our food bank.

Sunday October 4th, 1pm - 4pm
1 Wanaka Street, Johnsonville.

(We are right next to the train station and just up from the library bus stop - making it super easy to come along!)

07/09/2026

💛 Can you help us stock the Challenge 2000 Foodbank? 💛

Like many families in our community, we are feeling the impact of the rising cost of living.

At the same time as more whānau are needing a little extra support, some of the generous people and organisations who have traditionally helped keep our Foodbank stocked are simply not able to give as much as they once did.

So we are reaching out to our wider Challenge 2000 community for help.

We would be incredibly grateful for donations of non-perishable food, including:

🥫 Tinned items
🍝 Pasta, rice and pasta sauce
🥣 Breakfast cereals and spreads
☕ Tea, coffee and long-life milk
🍪 Lunchbox and snack items
🧼 Toiletries and basic household essentials

Cash donations are also very welcome and allow us to purchase exactly what is most needed at the time.

Every bag of groceries, box of food or financial contribution makes a difference. Together, these donations help us respond quickly when a young person or whānau comes through our doors needing practical support.

Donations can be dropped into Challenge 2000, 1 Wanaka Street, Johnsonville. If getting donations to us is difficult, please get in touch — we are happy to arrange collection where we can.

Thank you for continuing to stand alongside our rangatahi, whānau and community. Your generosity means more than you may realise. 💛

He waka eke noa — we are all in this together.

31/08/2026

EDIT - we have two tables left, so if you are thinking about coming, flick us an email and we'll book you in!

🎉 COMMUNITY QUIZ NIGHT – GET YOUR TEAM TOGETHER! 🎉

Challenge 2000’s annual Community Quiz Night is back!

Grab five friends, whānau or workmates, come up with a brilliant team name, and join us for a fun evening while supporting the work Challenge 2000 does with young people and families across our community.

✨ On the night:
• Fun themed quiz rounds
• Spot prizes
• Raffles
• Prize for the Best Team Name
• Snacks
• Dinner menu available to purchase
• Plenty of laughs and friendly competition!

👥 Teams of 6 people
🎟️ $20 per person | $120 per team

Don’t have a full team? No problem – book a ticket and we’ll help match you up with others on the night.

Every ticket helps Challenge 2000 continue supporting young people and families through our foodbank and practical family support, counselling and wellbeing services, social work and youth work in schools, youth development programmes, and support for rangatahi transitioning from care and into independence.

It’s a great night out – and a great way to support our local community.

🎟️ BOOK YOUR TICKETS
Email [email protected]

Then pay directly to:
Challenge 2000
01-0519-0057660-46
Reference: Quiz Night + your name

Or pay by cash/eftpos on the night

📍 Johnsonville Club
1 Norman Lane, Johnsonville

📅 Sunday 11 October
🕔 5.00pm – 7.00pm

Start getting your team of six together now – we’d love to see you there!

Please share this post with your friends, whānau, schools, churches and community networks. ❤️

20/08/2026

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT PASIFIKA PROGRAMME – POWERING UP AT ST CATHERINE’S COLLEGE 🌺

We’re proud to shine a light on our Pasifika Youth Development Programme at St Catherine’s College in Kilbirnie.

Running fortnightly since the beginning of the year, the programme continues into Term 3, supporting our young Pasifika people to grow in confidence, strengthen their cultural identity, develop practical life skills and plan for their futures.

GUIDED BY THE FONO FALE

Our programme is grounded in the Fono Fale concept, recognising the importance of the different parts of life that support the wellbeing of our young people:

🏠 The Foundation: Who are we and where are we from?

🌺 The Pillars: Mental, spiritual, physical and meaningful wellbeing

🏠 The Roof: A safe and supportive space where we can learn, connect and grow together

WHAT WE’VE DONE SO FAR…

During Terms 1 and 2, our young people have explored:

• Faith, identity, values and what matters to them
• Setting goals and thinking about their futures
• Learning from inspiring Pasifika guest speakers working across business, education, sport, community and other areas
• Asking questions, hearing real-life experiences and seeing the possibilities available to them

TERM 3 – TURNING PLANS INTO ACTION!

🚗 ON THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

We’re supporting our young people to work towards their Learner and Restricted Driver Licences, with some also taking part in a Defensive Driving Course.

Getting a licence is a practical step towards independence and can open up opportunities for education, employment and wider participation in their communities.

💼 READY FOR THE WORKFORCE

With support from our awesome interns, we’ll also be running practical employment workshops – from developing strong CVs and preparing for interviews, to building the confidence to talk about their strengths, skills and what they can offer an employer.

This programme is about more than individual activities. It’s about supporting strong, confident Pasifika young people who know their worth, are proud of who they are and where they come from, and have the skills and opportunities to take their next steps.

A huge thank you to all our speakers, supporters and interns, and to our amazing team – Salz, Faafetai, Naia and Mac – who continue to make this programme possible.

Most importantly, thank you to our incredible students who keep showing up, contributing and giving things a go every fortnight. 🌺

Fa’afetai lava • Mālō ‘aupito • Vinaka vakalevu • Fakafetai • Thank you

13/08/2026

🎨 Introducing Art Therapy at Challenge 2000 🌱

We are pleased to welcome Mary Grace Williams to the Challenge 2000 team as our new Counsellor and Registered Art Therapist.

Mary Grace brings experience supporting children, young people and rangatahi through counselling and creative therapeutic approaches in schools and private practice.

What is art therapy?

Art therapy uses creative expression — such as drawing, painting, collage and other creative activities — alongside conversation to support emotional wellbeing.

It provides a safe and supportive space for children and young people to:
✨ explore feelings and experiences
✨ build confidence and self-awareness
✨ express things that may be difficult to put into words
✨ develop coping strategies and strengthen wellbeing

No artistic skills are needed — the focus is not on creating “good art”, but on the therapeutic process and what the young person can explore through creativity.

Mary Grace currently has appointments available on:

📅 Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
🕙 10am–2pm

We want this service to be as accessible as possible, so there are different payment and funded options available.

If you would like to find out more about art therapy, or discuss whether it may be suitable for a child or young person, please contact:

📧 [email protected]

12/08/2026

Kia Ora

We have some families in need of furniture (lounge suites), and whiteware (washing machines, dryers, and fridge/freezers).

If you have any spare in good working order, could you please get in touch via messenger or email [email protected].
We are able to pick them up!

Thank you so much!

31/07/2026

What started as a regular breaking jam turned into an unforgettable school holiday experience for four of our young people!

After meeting members of the Harlem Globetrotters touring crew, our Youth Worker, Simon Ravenhill, was generously offered tickets to the Wellington show the following evening. Recognising what a special opportunity this could be, Simon and Bobby Gibbins quickly pulled everything together—organising approval, transport and whānau consent in less than 24 hours.

The experience just kept getting better. The group was upgraded to courtside seats, where they found themselves right in the middle of the action. During one of the Globetrotters' famous comedy routines, the team captain dramatically "collapsed" across Bobby and Simon's laps before borrowing Simon's shoe and launching it across the court—creating plenty of laughter and a memory that won't be forgotten anytime soon!

To top it all off, each young person received an official Harlem Globetrotters jersey from the touring crew, later signed by their favourite players.

These are the moments that make youth work so special. Sometimes it's recognising an opportunity, acting quickly, and creating experiences that remind young people they are valued, capable and deserve every chance to dream big.

A huge thank you to Simon and Bobby for making it happen, and to the Harlem Globetrotters touring crew for their incredible generosity.

23/07/2026

This week, the St Patricks College, Silverstream U15A rugby team showed that some of life's greatest lessons are learned through serving others.

Challenge 2000 was proud to contribute towards sponsoring the team's kit, thanks to our Youth Worker, Tony, who is also a parent and Manager of the team. As part of building a culture of giving
back, Tony organised for seven players to spend the day serving alongside our Missions team.

The boys rolled up their sleeves to prepare kai for the Porirua Whānau Centre's Te Rēhia Rangatahi holiday programme, making sandwiches for around 40 rangatahi. They made quick work of peeling trays of eggs and buttering loaves of bread, and after a little discussion about the best way to assemble everything, they found a system that worked well together—a great reminder that
teamwork isn't just built on the rugby field.

A special thank you to Sr Marie for generously donating fresh fruit and snacks, helping provide a nourishing lunch for the young people attending the programme.

It was fantastic for the players to meet members of the Challenge 2000 team, learn more about the work we do with young people and whānau, and experience first-hand what service to the
community looks like. Best of all, they left saying they'd love to come back and be involved with our Missions programme again.

St Patrick's College has a proud Marist tradition of forming young people to lead through service, compassion, humility and community. These values sit at the heart of Challenge 2000's Missions programme, making partnerships like this a wonderful example of our shared commitment to creating positive change.
Service. Teamwork. Community. What a fantastic combination.

Thank you, St Patrick's College, Silverstream U15A. We look forward to welcoming you back again
soon!