We are one of the largest independent leisure trusts in the UK, and we’re also a not-for-profit, social enterprise.
Put simply, this means we reinvest any financial surplus we make back into the business so that we can deliver events and community programmes, such as Explore Outdoor.
Even though this year has been challenging for us (and the whole leisure sector) we were proud to still offer two fantastic programmes during the summer and October school holidays which directly supported children and families in financial hardship or those negatively affected by the pandemic.
Explore Outdoor Family Park Cooking
We invited over 700 disadvantaged families across West Suffolk, Babergh and Mid Suffolk, referred by schools, to attend a day including six hours of fun, structured, outdoor activity, a cooking lesson with a top local chef, James Carn and menu planning – enabling families to make healthy and delicious meals using their free school meals vouchers.
The families were also given shopping lists and associated menus to enable them to buy and make healthy, fun and delicious meals using their free school meals vouchers.
Every family that attended also received a food parcel with restaurant-quality, local produce from local suppliers to take away at the end of the day.
Online video tutorials were also produced, to support their cooking progress at home using the recipe cards, and these were made available to the public.
Explore Outdoor Adventure Days
Fully funded activity days, provided over 200 child places across six locations. These were aimed at children entitled to free school meals, but also children that may have other needs identified by their schools, especially with the impact of COVID-19, such as bereavement, mental health, self-confidence and social isolation. The children took part in a range of outdoor activities such as archery, shelter building and orienteering.
The projects across the summer and October half-term were also made possible with funding from Suffolk County Council, Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils, Suffolk Community Foundation and support from West Suffolk Council, Accent Fresh, East Anglian Foods Ltd and The Infusion Group.
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