Category: Articles & Media

This July saw Fresh Futures take on TWO walking challenges to raise funds and awareness for Fresh Futures.

On Sunday 17th July, a group of 27 walkers and three dogs took to the streets of Huddersfield for a 2.5 mile hike from YCC’s Brian Jackson House, up to the top of Castle Hill (and back down again!).

It was a really fun day, and the walkers collectively raised a whopping £837.50 for YCC.

The following weekend, five very brave walkers and two noble drivers took on a much larger challenge, taking on the 24hr National Peak Challenge. The group left Brian Jackson House at 9am on Saturday morning, where they drove to Ben Nevis and took on the first mountain.

Then, during what can only be described as torrential rain (a yellow weather warning was in place) they carried on to the Lake District, where they took on England’s tallest and most prominent mountain; Scafell Pike!

With a heavy heart, the group were then forced to turn back and agree to take on the final mountain, Snowdon, another day, after the weather warnings had been removed. After hours of hiking and over 30 hours of being on the road, the walkers finally returned to Huddersfield for a well-deserved rest.

Although they didn’t make it to Snowdon, we can all agree that the walkers did absolutely amazingly. What’s more, the self named ‘Peaky Walkers’ collectively raised £1447.02 for Fresh Futures which is outstanding!

Together, these two walks have raised £2284.52 for YCC.

Rob Edden, YCC’s Head of Income and Support Services, took part in both the Castle Hill walk AND the National Peaks Challenge. Rob told us; “Seeing staff, volunteers and family come out to support Fresh Futures was a fantastic experience. It took a lot of effort to organise and people put themselves outside their comfort zones. So it was a privilege to be part of the group; and raising money for our programmes was a bonus“.

All of the funds raised during the two events will go directly to supporting the children, young people and families in the community, through the range of services that Fresh Futures offers.

Sara Eltman, Head of Income and Partnerships at the Charity and one of the designated drivers for the 24hr 3-Peaks Challenge, said: “On behalf of YCC, we’d like to say a HUGE thank you to all of our Fresh Futures walkers, and to everyone who very generously supported the charity.”

Would you like to get involved in Fresh Futures fundraising events? Check out our news & events page for a list of upcoming events, or create one of your own with your friends, family or colleagues and let us know about it.

#WeAreYCC

The self-named ‘PEAKY WALKERS’ are getting ready to take on an incredible walking challenge this month: climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon in a 26-mile hike with an ascent of 9843ft all in 24hrs.

Pictured above wearing their #WeAreFresh Futures t-shirts, the walkers are taking on this challenge to raise awareness and funds for YCC; a charity that seeks to Improve Lives and Inspire Change. You can support the walkers, and keep track of their fundraising progress, HERE.

Meet the Team:

Mark Farmer, YCC’s CEO

Hi Mark, how are you linked with YCC? I joined Fresh Futures as CEO back in November 2020.

What made you want to take on this challenge? Well… it was my idea! And the team thought that it was a good – albeit crazy one! I did the walk many years ago and it can be done – we have a great team giving it a go and I think we will do really well!

How do you feel about the upcoming challenge? I’m actually really looking forward to it. I walk regularly so I feel confident in my fitness. It’s the slog up Ben Nevis that’s the hardest mentally but it comes first and it will get better from then.

Do you have a message for those who are supporting you and the team? THANK YOU! As a charity we need your support to keep growing our services and reach more people. Please wish us luck!

Rob Edden, Head of Finance and Support Services

Hi Rob, how are you feeling in the lead up to this challenge? Great. This has always been on my bucket list, and it’s great that it gives us the opportunity to raise awareness and funds for Fresh Futures that will help us to develop our services.

What thoughts/emotions do you have when you think about the challenge ahead? Excitement! We’re going to see some great parts of the UK. I’m also looking forward to some team bonding and of course finishing on the Sunday night!

How have you been preparing for the walk? I’ve been doing lots of regular runs and walks and taking on some hilly terrain including the Yorkshire Dales.

What’s your message to the members of the community who are sponsoring you on this walk? Please share our message as far as you can! If you can give financially that’s great, but let’s also be vocal about the needs and services we provided. See you on a hill with us next time 🙂

David Gill, former Fresh Futures Caretaker & Member of the Local Community

Hi David, what’s your affiliation with YCC? I worked for Fresh Futures for 4 years until a little while ago. I absolutely loved the job! Fresh Futures does a lot of caring work for the community and I’m very happy to be involved in this fundraiser.

How are you feeling about the walk? I feel fine, I do a lot of walking every day, but I’ve never climbed two of the three mountains that we will be taking on before.

What’s your message for those out there who are supporting you on the walk? I’m going to try my very best to walk all 3 mountains!!!

Rebecca Lund, Receptionist at Batley & Huddersfield

Hi Rebecca, what made you want to sign up to this huge challenge? I wanted to challenge myself and even if I only manage to climb one of the mountains, I’ll know that I still did the best I could and helped to raise money for the charity.

How are you feeling in the run up to the event? I feel nervous but excited at the same time. I’m also really proud to walk for YCC! We are a charity that helps people throughout the community. Through Covid, Fresh Futures really came together and this is shown by the award we received when we were a finalise for the Covid Hero award earlier this year!

Have you been doing any activities to get you ready? I have been going on my exercise bike 4 days a week, and as a group we have also been going on a few walks after work to build our resilience.

What would you like to say to everyone who has been supporting the charity’s 3-Peaks event? I would like to thank everyone who supported me and those who are encouraging us on the walk!

Janine Lomax, Receptionist at Huddersfield

Hi Janine, are you feeling ready to take on the 3 peaks? I’m very nervous with a little excitement mixed in. This will be a great opportunity to really push myself mentally and physically.

Why is Fresh Futures an important charity in your eyes? Fresh Futures helps to many people within the community from young to the elderly!

How have you been getting physically and mentally prepared for the challenge? I have an exercise bike that I’ve been pushing myself on. I’ve also been walking daily with my daughters and as a walking group, we have also been out completing various walks.

What would you like to say to those who have sponsored you? I just want to say thank you so much to the people that have supported me and the other walkers on this challenge, the support has been overwhelming!

Here at BJC, we have had a busy month welcoming a number of external agencies who have been running workshops with our pupils.

Works Better is a positive minds programme delivered by Kirklees Council in collaboration with C&K Careers, Support 2 Recovery and Northorpe Hall. The primary aim of the sessions is to work alongside young people aged 15-25, exploring training and careers opportunities, learning new skills that will further their development, and learning how to sell themselves to prospective employers.

Works Better helps young people to build confidence, and create professional CVs, whilst gaining an understanding of what skills employers are looking for, supporting them to access local apprenticeship opportunities. Works Better delivered a session to our current year 11 cohort. Pupils engaged exceptionally well during the session and every single student chose to sign up to the service.

Thank you to the Works Better team for coming along and sharing this opportunity with our pupils.

As part of the BTEC in Personal Growth and Wellbeing qualification for PSHE, pupils have covered many topics such as alcohol and drugs. One topic that pupils needed to discuss as part of this qualification was organ donation and blood transfusions. To make sure pupils received the best information about this, Karen Piotr – a volunteer working with the NHS and Organ Donation, spoke to the pupils about organ donation and her experience of this. The pupils learnt about the recent change in legislation about how they now have to opt out of being an organ donor, how to do this, the procedure for donating blood.

Karen also spoke to the pupils about the importance of talking to family and friends about their wishes and desires after death. Karen shared her own personal story of sadly losing her husband and how he had expressed the desire to be an organ donor. The pupils really enjoyed the session, and it has been a topic of conversation throughout college since.

Thank you to Karen for providing such relevant and thought-provoking information to our pupils.

BJC also had the privilege of welcoming Clare Johnson, the early careers lead at Sodexo. Clare came and delivered a session to our year 11 learners, where she shared information about the company, the types of industry sectors they support, and what current apprenticeship schemes and employment opportunities are currently on offer. Clare started the session playing 2 truths and lie, breaking the ice and providing the perfect introduction to the session.

Clare discussed the youth employment market, providing examples of what it is employers are looking for in the younger generation. Clare also focussed on CV writing, looking at what does and doesn’t sell, even providing the pupils with some fantastic interview tips. Both pupils and staff agreed that it was an extremely beneficial session! One pupil stayed with Clare at the end to discuss his future prospects. After their discussion, Clare is now going away to explore getting them into one of their catering providers at Sodexo for some work experience and has expressed that there could be a potential apprenticeship at the end for him.

A huge thank you to Clare for volunteering your time with our pupils.

– Nicola Atkinson – Deputy Head

During this difficult time, Fresh Futures stands with Ukraine.

Many of you have been asking about Fresh Futures stance on the events surrounding the Ukrainian humanitarian crisis, so we wanted to take this opportunity to share with you our position.

Even as a children and family centred charity, it is difficult to comprehend the full extent of the devastation currently ongoing in Ukraine, and we extend our greatest sympathy to everyone affected by the crisis.

To keep you informed, Fresh Futures have been in touch with the Huddersfield Ukrainian Group, who have advised us that donations of items are not required by them at this time. They have requested that should anyone wish to make a donation, that they do so via this link.

As a charity, we will be committed to supporting as many Ukrainian children and families in our communities as we can. This will only be possible once refugees start to arrive in our local areas and subject to them qualifying for the services we are accredited to offer. However, it is important to note that as we are not a refugee charity (and therefore do not specialise in the support that some other charities will be offering at this time) it would not be correct for us to try and ‘step in’.

Although our services do not respond to any of the current urgent needs communicated from Ukraine at this time, we are keeping a close eye on ways that we can support Ukrainian refugees through our Children and Family services, and through government incentives.

We are aware that there may shortly be the possibility for us to offer employment to refugees arriving from Ukraine, with a special 3-year work visa being granted to all Ukrainian refugees. Should this be the case, Fresh Futures will actively seek to employ Ukrainians to help them build skills and support their families, where possible. Fresh Futures will also reconsider running a collection of items, should this need arise. And of course, our doors will always be open to our new Ukrainian community friends when they arrive, should they need to access any of our services.

If you would like to get in touch with Fresh Futures about this matter, please email [email protected] or call 01484 51 99 88.

#WeAreFresh Futures #WeStandWithUkraine