Hailing from the small West Coast town of Hokitika, TrustPower’s inaugural National Community Award Supreme Winner is still going strong.

C.A.C.T.U.S. – which stands for Combined Adolescent Challenge Training Unit and Support – won the Supreme Award at the TrustPower National Community Awards in 2001 for its work in the field of youth development.

C.A.C.T.U.S. was developed in 1998 to challenge youth to use both body and mind through disciplined physical training programmes.  Originally starting out as a correctional training unit, C.A.C.T.U.S. was run by the Hokitika Youth Aid division of the police as a way of encouraging teenagers back onto the right side of the tracks.

After a few years, C.A.C.T.U.S changed its focus to what it is today – a challenge training unit which is open to all teenagers at Westland High School.

Today C.A.C.T.U.S. is run by Wayne Jones – a volunteer who has spent the last 15 years working in the area of youth development.  The programme is run three mornings a week from 7 am until 8 am, after which the participants have a shower and breakfast at the rugby clubrooms before heading off to school.

But although C.A.C.T.U.S. is still going strong, the organisation hasn’t been without its own challenges since its 2001 win.

“For a while I was paid to run the C.A.C.T.U.S. courses five mornings a week, but we found the constant battle for funding too difficult.  That’s why we have reduced the course to the original three days a week and are now running it completely with volunteers,” says Wayne.

But Wayne says there was never any chance of C.A.C.T.U.S. collapsing, because the demand was always there.

“It might be physically and mentally exhausting, but the young ones are still demanding it.  Some of today’s teenagers are simply not being challenged in other aspects of their life and they want to go through a C.A.C.T.U.S. course to test themselves,” says Wayne.

One of the major changes for C.A.C.T.U.S. over the last five years has been the increasing number of females taking part in the course.  Wayne says in general, the females do exceptionally well compared to their male counterparts.

During the early morning C.A.C.T.U.S. sessions the students are put through a series of progressively harder physical routines based on military and police standards. 

The sessions are run by two volunteer instructors and secondary school students and CACTI – former C.A.C.T.U.S. students who return each term to volunteer.

At the time of writing this article, the students were going through ‘Pain Week’ – five days of intensely physically demanding challenges including river crossings, runs and exercises involving carrying stretchers weighted with sandbags. 

Wayne Jones says ‘Pain Week’ challenges the students’ mental fitness and encourages intense teamwork – and there are consequences for those who slacken off.

“It is through discipline that we learn self-discipline – but it’s done in a humorous way.  We have lots of fun.

“The kids come out of a C.A.C.T.U.S. course more self-assured and with a great sense of achievement.  While some students head for a career in the armed forces or the police, the skills learnt through C.A.C.T.U.S. can be applied to all aspects of the students’ life,” says Wayne.

C.A.C.T.U.S. still receives a lot of support from the Hokitika police and those students who complete the course receive a certificate of achievement which includes the police seal of approval.  C.A.C.T.U.S.’s other key sources of funding and support are Lion Breweries, Pub Charities, COGS, Rugby West Hokitika and the Safer Community Council.

For more information about C.A.C.T.U.S. contact Wayne Jones on 03 755 4949.