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Drums, Beats and Blocs

Zulu drumming, caving and music were on the menu for kids at our latest ROKT Foundation Healthy Holidays programme this summer 2024.

Healthy eating, rope climbing, bouldering, abseiling and escape rooms were of course all packed in too (plus some karate!).

Here’s a taste of the climbing, drumming and caving which our fab kids experienced.

Safety Nets X ROKT Foundation

Here’s a longer look at the amazing Safety Nets project at ROKT Foundation, run by Creative Minds.

It blends social, physical and mental health workshops with climbing and urban activity to engage, inspire and empower young people – improving lives along the way.

Thanks to funding from BBC Children In Need, this innovative project is making a difference.

Watch how to cook great family food with Lidia

Here’s Lidia – and helper Florence – with an amazing, tasty, cheap and easy traditional Italian chicken pasta recipe. Enjoy watching and cooking along!

All part of our Healthy Holidays programme, Lidia shows how easy it is to make great, healthy food for less.

Head to https://youtu.be/qHB5J1_r_hI?si=pg7fERQaq6x-rsBd for the full recipe in the description.

And watch the second cook along film below too for egg drop soup.

ROKTFACE returns for RSPCA

Daredevil fundraisers of all ages took on ROKTFACE – the UK’s highest outdoor man-made climbing wall – to raise cash for the amazing RSPCA Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford & District branch this June.

Dubbed the Human Scratching Post Challenge, here’s a taste of what the humans got up to (and a few dogs too).

Run by ROKT Foundation in partnership with RSPCA at ROKTFACE in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, UK.

Block Rockin’ Meets

This is integration, this is Block Rockin’ Meets! It was fantastic to welcome our new cohort of climbers from St. Augustine’s Centre, Halifax, recently.

The smiles on the faces of our new recruits and the laughter in the building was phenomenal. These are asylum seekers coming together to make friends, learn about their new surroundings and start their new life.

It’s brilliant to see the enthusiasm from the group and how they keen they are to challenge themselves and support each other.

Thanks to Community Foundation for Calderdale for supporting this programme.

Film Poucher PR. Music Pixabay. www.roktfoundation.co.uk ENGAGE | EMPOWER | INSPIRE

Climbing For All Families launches

A ground-breaking new climbing scheme giving families with disabled children the chance to climb together is set to launch.

ROKT Foundation has secured funding from Sport England for Climbing For All Families where parents and siblings of children with special educational needs and physical disabilities can climb together – which is something of a rarity.

Many great courses give disabled youngsters the chance to climb, but often just on their own. This course is designed to include the whole family group, meaning they can experience the thrill of climbing and urban activities together rather than siblings and parents just watching on.

Our Brighouse-based charity trialled the concept last year and after overwhelmingly positive feedback, Sport England and Creative Minds are backing them to roll it out to up to 100 families in 2024 thanks to funding of nearly £20,000

Katie Kinsella, Director of ROKT Foundation, said: “We were told by a lot of families we come into contact with that having children with special educational needs and physical disabilities often makes it near impossible to have whole family experiences where they can all take part in the same activity. We wanted to change that through the power of climbing – and putting our specialist training, knowledge and equipment to good use.

“There are lots of great courses out there doing brilliant things. Where our courses differ is that it’s for the entire family, not just one participant with additional needs. The feedback from the trial programme was extremely positive, so thanks to Sport England and Creative Minds we can do more, help more and climb more.

“It’s not just limited to climbing because we’re experts in the whole urban activity arena. So families can enjoy rope climbing, harness swinging, bouldering, indoor caving, Project Breakout escape rooms and indoor abseiling.”

The course includes specially adapted climbing equipment like harness swings that can go up to 10 metres in the air. Children can work as a team to hoist their friends and family upwards – and it means almost any child can experience the thrill of climbing no matter what barriers they face.

Cat Clements, head of disability at Sport England, added: “Projects like this make a real difference not just to one child, but the whole family. Data from our latest Active Lives Survey shows that activity is less common for adults with a disability or long-term health condition than those without.

“So, to be able to get children with disabilities and special educational needs active and involved alongside their siblings and parents from a young age can only enhance the chances of them staying physically active well into adulthood.

“It starts now and it starts young, so ROKT Foundation’s work in this area is vital and we’re delighted to support it.”

ROKT Foundation recently opened a new £18,000 sensory room experience at the centre for service users to enjoy as part of their climbing and urban experiences.

It features a musical touch wall, light plinth, Bluetooth musical stool, rainbow ball, UV carpet and projection equipment for relaxing and watching educational films.

Since 2021 post-Covid, ROKT Foundation has supported hundreds of children and young people with learning disabilities to climb, cave, boulder, harness swing and abseil.

For more on ROKT Foundation please visit www.roktfoundation.co.uk

Notes to editors:
For all media enquiries contact graham@poucherpr.co.uk or call 07587 180005

New sensory room to light up lives

Children with a range of disabilities will have a new space to thrive inside after a Brighouse charity opened a new £18,000 experience.

A new sensory room at ROKT Foundation featuring a musical touch wall, light plinth, Bluetooth musical stool, rainbow ball, UV carpet and projection equipment for relaxing and watching educational films has opened to users from across West Yorkshire.

The room is a welcome addition for the charity which supports children, young people and adults from across the county through climbing and urban activity – supporting everyone from those struggling with their mental health to children with complex learning disabilities and everyone in between.

The charity, based inside ROKT Climbing Centre, has spent the last two months creating the space thanks grants from Community Foundation for Calderdale, Boshier Hinton Foundation, Hedley Foundation, Tesco’s small grants and the Toy Trust.

A state-of-the-art window was also donated by Leeds-based Express Bi-Folding Doors and the equipment was installed by SpaceKraft, a company that has specialised in supporting children with sensory stimulation for 30 years.

Since 2021 post-Covid, ROKT Foundation has supported hundreds of children and young people with learning disabilities to climb, cave, boulder, harness swing and abseil.

Katie Kinsella, Director of ROKT Foundation, said: “We wanted to add to our offer and create a beautiful interactive space that can be used as a warm down after climbing sessions or as a stand-alone experience. Many children we work with have sensory conditions including autism or ADHD, so the room will allow them to interact with the equipment, solve puzzles, make noise, play music, draw pictures and control lighting colours.

“It’s unbelievable to have this up and running in such a short space of time and we couldn’t have done it without our funders. This will have a massive positive impact on our service users, especially younger children with learning difficulties. It’s another string to our bow in terms of what we can offer and we hope it opens up more funding and opportunities for us to help even more people.”

Dr Max Euan Noble, Founder of ROKT Foundation, said: “The Foundation itself was a bit of a dream come true for me as we wanted to create something to help a huge range of people in life-changing ways. The Foundation is doing that on a daily basis with kids and adults – and this sensory room allows us to go even further.

“We’re certain the room will be loved by everyone who steps foot in it and bring a bit of joy and happiness to them. It’s also a calming space for them to relax after an adrenaline pumping session – and believe me they are thanks to the team’s unique approach to helping people through climbing. And it works.”

For more on ROKT Foundation please visit our homepage.