Challenge Trust up to the Challenge

For the past 10 years Brookfields has sponsored the Employer of Choice category of the Westpac Manukau Business Excellence Awards.   At the recent gala awards dinner Challenge Trust was announced as the winner of our category. Our congratulations go to this amazing team of people – we are proud to be associated with it through our sponsorship of these Awards.

Challenge Trust was founded in 1993 as a charitable trust with one facility and five staff, providing services to four mental health clients. Today it provides the full range of recovery services from 20 sites to in excess of 1,000 people affected by mental illness, addiction, intellectual disability, physical disability and other conditions requiring a recovery response. Its vision is to be the best in terms of client care, relationships with stakeholders and a place to work.

Services provided by Challenge Trust include 24 hour residential accommodation, support to people living in their own homes, educational services, life skills training, advocacy information and family/whanau support.

Clients are offered a "one stop shop" of services where they have their needs met without having to go to a variety of organisations for different services. That means working with other trusts in the Recovery Solutions Group to ensure its clients also have access to employment, housing and other community integration activities.

Clive Plucknett, CEO at Challenge Trust, believes that more can be done for people on their journey of recovery. "We are working with overseas organisations to ensure that our clients receive the most effective recovery services delivered in the best possible way."

On achieving finalist stage of the Awards, Mr Plucknett said "We entered the Westpac Manukau Business Excellence Awards as a learning exercise and to further benchmark our organisation against other businesses in this area. Being a finalist is an achievement in itself – and winning the award would be the realisation of a dream shared by the whole organisation."

Challenge Trust also took out the Sir Barry Curtis Excellence in Governance Award.  If you would like to know more about Challenge Trust, visit its website at http://www.challenge.co.nz/.

The picture in the banner on this page shows Clive Plucknett from Challenge Trust who received the Brookfields Lawyers Employer of Choice Award from David Graham (CEO)

Last updated: 22 September 2009