Gisborne Boys’ High students bond through 40 hours of sports in Fortress 40 mental health challenge

The five Gisborne Boys' High students who completed all 40 hours of the Fortress 40 Challenge are (from left) Nikau Rudge, Jake Millar, Ned Clarke, Maxwell Kennedy and Hugo Lodewyk.

About 50 students from Gisborne Boys’ High School took part in Fortress 40, a men’s mental health awareness initiative involving a variety of sport and exercise over a 40-hour period.

It started at the school gym with a workout, followed by various activities, including running, biking, waka ama, kayaking and a military boot-camp type session on the beach.

GBHS head boy Ned Clarke learned about the Fortress 40 challenge from Tauranga Boys’ College head boy Michael Van Lieshout at the NZ Association of Boys’ Schools Conference in Christchurch in May.

As part of the conference, the principals and head prefects of the “Super 8″ schools - of which GBHS is one - had their own meetings and agreed to take part in a collective challenge in 2024.

Clarke was one of five members of the group who completed all 40 hours of physical exercise over the two days and nights.

“It was awesome,” he said. “We were so stoked when we got to the end and we definitely bonded as a group.”

All money raised will go to the Movember men’s health movement while the GBHS Fortress 40 group has its own fundraising page as part of Movember.

“It is an initiative that will make our young men aware of a growing problem and give them the courage to do something about it through learning to take on challenges,” GBHS principal Tom Cairns said.

Clarke said it was a way to physically and mentally test themselves while acknowledging that it was okay to not be okay, and to have the courage to admit that.

“I thought it would be a great opportunity to be involved as lots of us have had friends and whānau who have been affected by mental health issues, and as young leaders of our kura, this is a perfect opportunity to try and change that.

“As soon as I introduced the idea to the rest of the prefects, the boys were keen to get involved as it is a chance to bring us closer together as brothers at school, to achieve something with our fellow Super 8 schools, as well as destigmatising the conversation around men’s mental health.”

The GBHS Fortress 40 Challenge involved prefects, senior leaders and other students.

People can still donate online at nz.movember.com/team/2465566

A gym workout was part of the Fortress 40 initiative for this group of Boys' High students.