The annual 3 Day Challenge was held during the last week of Term 1, organised and run by Birthright Hawke’s Bay Child & Family Care with funding from the Ministry of Social Development Social Worker in Schools (SWiS) Preventative Programme.

Attended by over 30 children aged between 6 and 12 years old, the 'Challenge' was held at Stony Creek Ranch and the Flaxmere Boxing Academy in Hawke’s Bay.

The goals of the challenge include developing children’s confidence in cooperating with their peers, building communication skills, and positive, friendly interactions in a group environment while respecting and accepting others' differences.

The first two mornings saw the children picked up at 8am from their schools by bus and taken out to Stony Creek Ranch, which is a purpose-built adventure activity centre.

Here, they participated in fun team activities ranging from building newspaper towers and rope and ball activities to develop their problem-solving and social skills, to basic survival skills of a scavenger hunt, confidence course, building a shelter and starting a fire – in a safe and controlled environment!

Day three saw the children attending the Flaxmere Boxing Academy where they worked on building self-esteem and self confidence in the ring. That afternoon saw everyone in the Flaxmere swimming pool for some fun and a chance to rest tired muscles.

Sharon Allan, Practice Manager at Birthright Hawke's Bay says, "I’m not sure who had the most fun – the children or the staff that helped out! But one thing was for sure, the children had the most energy left at the end of the three days!

"These programmes are the best part of the SWiS role, where you get to interact with the children on their level in a fun and educational way to produce positive outcomes and hopefully teach them some good life skills.

"We really appreciate the support from MSD in funding the 3 Day Challenge. The feedback we get from the children and families/whanau is really positive and reinforces why we do what we do.”

Some of the children's feedback included: “It was fun”, “I like how we learnt first aid and did survival”, “This is cool” and “Awesome!”