Good News: Stories that cheered us up for the week of 25-31 March

Skier soars in Switzerland

Wānaka freeskier Luca Harrington, 20, has achieved a childhood dream: claiming the first World Cup podium of his career, with a third-place finish at the FIS Slopestyle World Cup in Switzerland. He soared through the air, lacing together a double cork 1440 safety grab into a right double cork 1620 tail grab into a switch right double 1440 on the jumps, before impressing the judges with a huge switch 720 on the quarter pipe.

Homecoming for 1930s Māori portrait

A portrait of a Māori man by renowned artist Vera Cummings is set to return to New Zealand after at least six decades.

The portrait was sold in the UK for NZ$3790 (1800 pounds) to an online bidder from New Zealand. The previous owners of the painting were not aware of its importance and did not know how it had travelled to the United Kingdom.

At 11, Cummings was one of the youngest students to receive a scholarship to attend Elam School of Fine Arts where she studied under renowned portrait artist CF Goldie.

Mana College's massive fundraiser for Europe

A Porirua high school has raised more than $72,000 towards its first-ever trip to Europe in 2025.

The students have been doing everything they can to fund-raise from raffles to comedy nights and discos.

Mana College dean Lana McLaughlin-Khan said they wanted to fund-raise so it was not too big of a financial stress for any of the students and their whānau.

She said even students that were not going on the trip had been doing hours of work to support the students that were.

25 years of Tuesday Night Dinners

Every week for 25 years, a group has eaten dinner together on a Tuesday. The event, which began accidentally in a Wellington home in 1999, is now hosted in kitchens across the city.

Tuesday Night Dinners is open to anyone to share a meal, a glass of wine and stimulating conversation. People have met lifelong friends and even future spouses at the dinners.

Founder Mike Eastwood said cooking was his love language. There's no RSVP - you just rock up with food to contribute.

Indian community digs deep for St John Ambulance

The Indian community in conjunction with religious organisation Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan of New Zealand donated a fully equipped $300,000 ambulance to St John in February, marking its 10th anniversary celebrations.

The keys to the ambulance were handed over to representatives of St John by Chandra Bhanu Satpathy, global leader of the organisation, at an event held at Sai Baba Temple in Auckland's Onehunga neighbourhood.

Hope in PNG landowners' lengthy battle against developers

Nearly 12 years ago, then-Catholic archbishop of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea, Francesco Panfilo, led a campaign against giant Malaysian logging and palm oil developer Rimbunan Hijau, hoping to win improved conditions for the beleaguered landowners of West Pomio in East New Britain.

The company had been accused of ignoring legitimate landowners and taking trees illegally. The process was paused due to Covid-19 but Panfilo said this week there are hopes the PNG Supreme Court will direct RH to renegotiate the land agreements with the landowners.