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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.

ROKT Foundation has again made the finals of the Calderdale Community Spirit Awards.

Our charity is on the shortlist for the Breakthrough Of The Year Award for our Moving Through Menopause project and Best Marketing Campaign Award for our Climbing For All Families programme.

You can find out more at https://cffc.co.uk/calderdale-community-spirit-awards/award-categories/

The award winners will be announced on Thursday November 23, 2023.

We always like to share our annual report which is packed with great stats, results and outcomes.

Hope you enjoy reading it.

View and download here: ROKT Foundation annual report 2022-23 (final)

ROKT Foundation and Invictus Wellbeing charities have joined forces and
secured funding to support mental health and wellbeing for children and young
people aged 9-17 years old in Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford schools.

See our brochure attached below for full details and for more, email katie.kinsella@roktfoundation.co.uk

ROKT Foundation Invictus 2023 schools brochure (final)

A ground-breaking new project to use climbing to help women transition through the menopause has launched.

Our West Yorkshire-based charity ROKT Foundation will use the Olympic sport to help women tackle the effects of menopause alongside other key therapies.

Bouldering, rope climbing and caving are all on the agenda for the 16 women on the pioneering pilot course which runs for 10 weeks until April, dubbed ‘Moving Through Menopause’ and funded by a Sport England Jubilee Grant.

Here at ROKT Foundation we believe this is the first dedicated climbing course aimed at helping women through the menopause that features additional expert advice and classes – ranging from nutrition and wellbeing to working with a specialist menopause GP expert.

The key aims of the course are to improve women’s physical and emotional wellbeing, building muscle memory, targeting key physical areas like bums, tums and core, and mindfulness – alongside insights into hormonal imbalances and HRT treatments.

Katie Kinsella, ROKT’s Director for Community & Business Engagement, said: “We­­ believe this is the first time climbing has joined forces with clinical and holistic interventions and been shaped into a full course. This not only harnesses the power of the sport, but adds critical other elements to help women through areas of menopause widely accepted as key challenges.

“There’s some brilliant work going on nationally using climbing to support women and menopause, but we’ve gone that step further – and higher – by putting this 10 week package together.

“It’s about understanding the changes taking place and then what we can do to manage the transition and make it much easier. Building confidence and self-esteem is a critical part of this and helping provide ladies with the tools they need.

“A great example is addressing an issue like brain fog – we know it happens, but we don’t have to accept it. Climbing is a great leveller, so giving the group something to focus on – like climbing up a 21m lead wall – helps train focus on just one thing. This of course is complimented by tips on getting better sleep, nutrition and self-care, all of which will help reduce common symptoms like brain fog.

“Like this course, the menopause is a journey and you don’t suddenly go from pre-menopause to post, it can take years. That’s why the advice and guidance our partner experts can bring to the table will be so vital and adds to the unique nature of this programme.”

Experts in the fields of health and nutrition include GP Dr Ailsa Care, who has spent more than two decades guiding women through the menopause and is a strong advocate for functional medicine – and understanding environmental impacts on health and the root causes of problems.

Jana Shirley was originally a dancer before falling in love with the recovery techniques for lower back pain through pilates. Now Jana works to support others with chronic pain and discomfort – specialising in the discomfort menopause can have on the body and how improved movement and core strength can help combat this.

These experts are also well-versed in nutrition and will be supported by Chair of ROKT Foundation and Italian restauranteur and hotelier, Lidia Shinwell. Lidia will focus on the benefits of Mediterranean influences in people’s diets which can have a positive impact during menopause.

The first pilot course has now started, but there will be many more to come throughout 2023.  Ladies who live in Calderdale – and close surrounding areas – who are interested can get in touch on info@roktfoundation.co.uk

To find out more about ROKT Foundation see www.roktfoundation.co.uk or watch films at www.youtube.com/@roktfoundation

Ends.

Notes to editors:

Images: Course participants (L to R) Lisa Jagger, Sarah Crossland and Lindsay Hawker

For images, video, interviews and press visits, please contact Graham Poucher on graham@poucherpr.co.uk or 07587 180005.

Projects partners include:

www.drindra.co.uk  www.pilateshuddersfield.co.uk

www.facebook.com/lidiasitaliankitchen