As the leaders of Tauranga Boys' College, a school of more than 2000 young men, we feel it is our duty to destigmatise and raise awareness around men's mental health in New Zealand. The Fortress 40 is an enormous challenge consisting of 40 hours of extreme physical exertion such as lifting, running, cycling, swimming, Waka Ama, cold-tolerance training and more. We will be pushing far past our physical thresholds to create a brutal test of mental fortitude. We are doing this to show not only the boys at our school, but everyone that is suffering from mental health issues in New Zealand that they are not alone. We want to break down the stigma around mental health in our country and create a new culture that encourages conversations about this widely avoided topic. Put simply, the Fortress 40 itself is a metaphor for mental health issues and how they can be overcome by coming together and supporting one another.

Alongside raising awareness, we will also be fundraising for the Movember Foundation as they do amazing work across the globe that has the potential to positively affect every single student at our college. Your donations will help the amazing Movember team change the way our world thinks about men's mental health.