Healthy Christmas holidays

December saw us welcome around 80 children to ROKT Foundation to climb, run, jump, escape, yoga, eat and be merry this Christmas.

Aged seven to 16 they’ve all had an amazing time on the programme.

It was great to see youngsters with special educational needs also involved and just under half were new attendees, who tested their nerve with new activities from yoga and bouldering to climbing for candy canes and hunting for presents in the cave.

They also channelled their inner Santa by abseiling down the famous ROKT chimney before trying to escape from the Project Breakout escape rooms.

As part of the programme, we welcomed nine refugee children thanks to our work with St. Augustine’s Centre in Halifax, and they said they had a great time with us.

All enjoyed the fabulous hot food provided by Crust and Crumb 77 and thanks to our amazing instructing staff of Phil, Paul, Tom, Caleb and our Project Breakout team for creating such great experiences.

 

Finalist in charity awards

We didn’t win, but we were delighted to make the final for the Charity of the Year at the amazing Community Foundation for Calderdale awards.

Brilliant event and a packed room full of amazing people doing great things for Calderdale and beyond.

Well done to The Maurice Jagger Centre for winning ‘Charity of the Year’ in their 40th anniversary year!

And of course to everyone who was nominated. What a town we have.

Ground-breaking police early intervention pilot

This month we hosted a pilot session of a small group of youngsters on the West Yorkshire Police Calderdale Early Intervention Programme.

The four week-long, intensive support programme which has taught about the dangers of knife crime, gang culture, assault and County Boundary Lines, culminated in a final learning session in ‘Active Urban Adventure’.

To kick start the day the students were treated to a session with experts from British Weight Lifting, learning how to lift a variety of weights safely and the impacts of weight training on mood and physical health.

This was followed by a learning session with the Early Intervention Team where the students discussed about the common crimes youngsters of their age are at risk of getting involved in and the consequences.

The students were then challenged with two hours’ of hard climbing activity including low level bouldering, indoor caving and high rope climbing.

We were amazed at how well they worked as a team and two students, fearful of heights, made it to the top of the 21.5 metre lead wall – what an achievement!

Finally, the group tested their problem solving and team skills to master the Project Breakout escape room in under 60 minutes with great success.

This small group showed excellent manners, listening skills and teamwork. They all tried something out of their comfort zone and were amazing to work with.

Our very own ROKT Foundation dog, Murphy loved them! Well done all of you and keep making good choices.