Climbing key ingredient in Marcus Rashford-inspired free school meals project at Rokt

ROKT Foundation has teamed up with Community Foundation for Calderdale and Calderdale MBC to secure just over £19,000 from the Department for Education (DfE) to provide an adrenaline-filled holiday experience for youngsters from across Brighouse and Rastrick aged eight to 16 who are currently on free school meals.

The programme, backed by the Child Food Poverty Taskforce, offers fun activities which will see every child get to enjoy four active sessions which cover bouldering, rope climbing, abseiling, drumming sessions from ‘What is Drum?' and even the Project Breakout escape rooms all at ROKT Climbing Centre in Brighouse.

A series of classroom-based food and nutrition activities will also be run including taste tests, learning about hidden sugars and how food affects mood combined with foodie team games incorporated into bouldering and climbing sessions.

Katie Kinsella, ROKT Foundation’s Director for Community & Business Engagement said: “The free school meals work Marcus Rashford has done really brought into focus just how many families need extra support. Thanks to this funding from DfE it means ROKT Foundation and our partners can take things to the next level for these kids.

“Not only can we help these children eat well by helping out families who need a bit extra support in the holidays, but they can experience activities they might never had chance to try.

“By incorporating exciting thing likes bouldering, rope climbing, abseiling, drumming and escape rooms we can show them how being healthy connects to food – hopefully encouraging good habits for a lifetime.”

The children taking part have all been identified by local charity Focus 4Hope who help families in need of extra support across Brighouse.

Each child will get a snack on arrival plus a hot meal and a drink for lunch every day they visit.

Rachel Burnett from Community Foundation for Calderdale, said: “By working together we can achieve more, help more people while adding in that sense of adventure and experience which these children and young people will remember for years to come.

“Times are tough right now for so many families. If you need a little extra help, you’re no longer in a minority and the impact of the work Marcus Rashford has spearheaded has shown just that.

“Our project with ROKT Foundation means we can make sure more families get more access to healthy meals in the holidays while giving them an experience that will help them physically and mentally, which is so important now more than ever,”

The first of the courses begin on August 10 and runs each day from Tuesday through to Friday until September 3.

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