Diversity and Inclusion
The Selwyn Awards recognise the outstanding commitment and hard work that our local communities put in. With awards for various strengths and roles in our community, it is important to take a moment to celebrate and appreciate the work that our award winners continue to put in.
The Joshua Foundation won the 2021 Selwyn award for Diversity and Inclusion which recognises the outstanding contribution businesses or social enterprises within the Selwyn district have made by adapting business models or practices to promote, recruit, retain, employ and/or train those that face additional barriers.
Established in 2005 by Chris and Pam Allan, the purpose of the Joshua Foundation was to provide specifically designed programmes that target the youth within our community. Their programmes are based upon sound ethical values and moral principles, empowering our youth to fulfil ambitions and dreams through healthy leadership, competence, courage, clarity, integrity, and character. The Joshua Foundation programmes motivate individuals to become disciplined, resourceful, confident, and self-reliant with an emphasis on fostering initiative, building self-esteem, and developing a personal self-belief.
Winning the Selwyn Award meant a lot to the team behind the Joshua Foundation. When we spoke to Chris, he said the award was the
“Recognition of the work that we had done in the past two years, but more importantly it also recognised all the other people who we worked with collaboratively to see a result in young people's lives. We accepted the award on behalf of all of the organisations who work just as hard, if not harder than ourselves and did not get recognised.” - Chris Allan, co-founder of the Joshua Foundation
The team were recognised on the night for their hard work. However, as it stands with the principles of the foundation, their success and their awards and achievements have not been publicly advertised, to respect the young people they work with. We highly applaud and respect this statement and think it reflects one of the reasons why they won the award in the first place.
The passion and desire to help others is at the core of the Joshua Foundation. Chris himself, recently retired from the New Zealand Defence Force after twenty-two years of Regular Force service. But it was in the later years of his career that Chris developed a passion for New Zealand’s youth. This was complimented with his employment as the Officer Commanding the Limited Services Volunteer Company and the New Zealand Army Youth Development Unit. During these appointments he worked closely with the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), and Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) to develop and plan initiatives that best reflect the issues facing the youth within New Zealand society today.
The Joshua Foundation currently delivers several effective programmes to Colleges/High Schools within Canterbury, and has delivered programs to Oranga Tamariki, Youth Justice (YJ), Care & protection (C&P) Homes and Paparoa Youth prison for 3 years. Chris and his family have also served extensively in Vanuatu for five years delivering youth programmes, re-building libraries and assisting local schools with IT. Their focus has been on the vulnerable and under-privileged, seeking justice for all.
Looking to the future, the Joshua Foundation is supporting our Refugee community, and mentoring young people who have been released from correctional facilities. Its focus is upon vulnerable people, working hard to address inequality at all levels within our community.
And on top of our Selwyn Award, Chris has humbly accepted many awards over the years for his service and dedication. He was named NZDF Volunteer of the Year Award in February 2017 for his services to the Community, & Kiwi Bank local Hero in 2017 for his contribution to Youth in Canterbury. He was also awarded the Selwyn District Volunteer of the Year 2019 & 2020 the NZ Army Volunteer of the Year in 2020 and was awarded the Selwyn District Diversity & Inclusion Award for 2021 & 2022.
This was a well-deserved award for a well-deserved team who work extremely hard to make the lives of the vulnerable people in our community better. We look forward to continuing to see the difference they make within our community.
