Toadstools and Acorns Felting Workshop

Join us for a morning of felting with Crafty Baggage!

Running 10am-12 noon.

TICKETS ARE £27.50 and can be purchased by emailing [email protected] today!

All materials provided, no experience necessary, hot drink included and cakes available for purchase.

Tough Mudder

Get muddy, make connections, and support a great cause! 

Join Team Fresh Futures for the Yorkshire Tough Mudder on 26th July 2025 – a 5k challenge packed with epic obstacles, muddy fun, and the chance to network with local businesses while raising funds for disadvantaged children, young people and families in Kirklees.

Whether you’re looking for a unique team-building experience with colleagues or a fun way to meet like-minded professionals, this is the perfect challenge! Sign up solo or rally your workplace, friends, or family.

Limited places available—register now!
Email [email protected] to get involved!

Coffee Morning

Fresh Futures is hosting a town wide coffee morning to celebrate Yorkshire Day on Friday 1st August 2025 and we’d love you to be part of it! We’re inviting local cafés to join in by hosting their own mini coffee mornings, decorated with Fresh Futures goodies, to help raise vital funds and bring our amazing community together.

We’ll send you a fundraising pack with everything you need! All we ask is for participating cafés to donate a percentage of their profits from the day to support our work.

It’s a perfect chance to celebrate Yorkshire Day with your customers, connect with other local cafés & support a brilliant local cause!

Want to get involved? Email us at [email protected] today!

Stay and Play

Come and join us for our Stay & Play sessions every Tuesday morning (term time only) at Brian Jackson House Huddersfield, HD1 5JP.

Sessions run 10:30am-12pm, and are open for children aged 0-5 and their parents/carers and healthy snacks are provided.

Due to limited capacity, please reserve your place by texting 07849 398709 before 5pm on a Monday.

Fresh Futures Launches Summer Holiday Provision in Huddersfield

Fresh Futures is thrilled to announce that we’ve secured funding to run holiday provision, supporting local families and young people during the summer break.

The programme will take place throughout August at Brian Jackson House, in the centre of Huddersfield, and will run Monday to Thursday, from 10am to 2pm. Aimed at 11 to 13-year olds, the sessions are completely free for children who receive free school meals.

Each day, young people will be offered a healthy, nutritious meal, with all dietary requirements catered for, ensuring everyone can enjoy lunch together in a relaxed and inclusive setting.

What is on offer?

Our holiday provision is designed to be fun, engaging and supportive, with a wide range of activities planned to keep young people active, creative and connected. These include:

  • Sports and physical activities to get moving and build teamwork
  • Cooking classes and baking competitions to spark culinary creativity
  • Arts and crafts sessions to encourage self-expression
  • Chill Zone – Board games and time for socialising and relaxation
  • Weekly access to our onsite cinema installation – a unique way to end the week in style

This new initiative marks an exciting step forward for Fresh Futures as we continue our mission to support children, young people and their families from across Kirklees. We’re passionate about creating opportunities that inspire confidence, promote wellbeing, and help every child thrive.

“We’re incredibly proud to be launching our holiday provision at Fresh Futures,” said Mark Farmer, Chief Executive. “This project represents a step forward in how we support local children, young people and their families, particularly during the long summer break when access to activities and meals can be a challenge. Every young person will receive a healthy meal each day, with dietary needs fully catered for. We’re excited to launch this new project to increase the support we provide for families from across the region.”

Sessions will run Monday to Thursday between 10am and 2pm during weeks commencing 4th, 11th and 18th August. Due to the bank holiday on 25th August, sessions that week will run Tuesday to Friday.

Places are limited to 15 young people and are expected to book very quickly so parents and carers are encouraged to reserve their place for free as soon as possible. To book a place for a young person, please click HERE.

What can you expect each day?

DayMain Activity FocusAdditional Notes
Monday🎯 Sports Tournaments (indoor: Pool, Darts, Dodgeball, Table Tennis – Outdoor: Football, Cricket, Rounders)Arts & Crafts and Chill Zone open in afternoon 
Tuesday🍳 Intro to Cooking (Buy, simple meal prep & eat)Group cooking
Wednesday🏏 Sports Tournaments (indoor: Pool, Darts, Dodgeball, Tennis – Outdoor: Football, Cricket, Rounders)Arts & Crafts and Chill Zone open in afternoon 
Thursday🧁 Bake off day (Cupcakes, Cookies, Biscuits)Bake + decorate + take home or eat at lunch

🖌️plus access additional activities throughout the sessions including…….

🗣️ Hangout Area:

music, reading, relaxed social vibe

🎨 Creative Corner:

colouring, painting, pottery painting

🎥 Chill Zone:

films, board games, card games, internet access

Poster for Fresh Futures’ “Schools Out Summer Club” in August at Brian Jackson House, Huddersfield, for 11–13-year-olds on free school dinners. Runs Monday–Thursday, 10am–2pm. Activities include sports, cooking, arts & crafts, chill zone, and cinema. Limited places available. QR code for registration shown. Bright, playful design with illustrations of children.
Fresh Futures Schools Out Summer Club Poster

Fresh Futures hosts its first parents’ evening at Brian Jackson College

At Brian Jackson College, we understand that supporting our pupils’ development goes beyond the classroom. A holistic approach — where education is a shared journey between school and home — is at the core of everything we do. Strong, trusting relationships with parents and carers are fundamental to this vision, and our parents’ evenings was a key opportunity to nurture those partnership.

On Tuesday 13th May, the Heckmondwike provision held its first parents’ evening, welcoming families into the school between 4:30pm and 7:00pm. The event provided a dedicated space for parents and carers to speak directly with subject teachers, discussing their child’s academic progress, behaviour, and overall wellbeing. Together, staff and families explored strategies to support learning and identify areas for further development, laying the groundwork for better supporting our pupils and improving educational outcomes.

In addition to subject teachers, key members of the school team were on hand to offer guidance and support. The Attendance Lead and Behaviour Lead were available to address concerns and explore positive interventions. The Nurture and Wellbeing Lead shared details of bespoke support programmes, while our school counsellor offered private appointments, providing advice on mental health services and resources for managing exam-related anxiety — particularly timely for pupils preparing for GCSEs and mock exams.

Our careers advisor also joined the evening, offering drop-in sessions for pupils from all year groups to discuss future pathways, from post-16 education to employment and training opportunities.

The evening was a fantastic success, with 16 families attending — many bringing siblings and other relatives, creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere. It was especially rewarding for the team from Fresh Futures to meet with parents and carers in an informal setting, building meaningful connections beyond the usual school day.

Feedback from parents and carers was overwhelmingly positive. Here are just a few of the comments we received:

“I never thought I’d have a parents’ evening as positive as this —I  can’t believe how far he has come.”

“The change in him at home is massive. He’s back to being my happy son again.”

“I used to have to fight with him every day to get him to school. Now he’s up and ready every morning — no arguments, no meltdowns. It’s amazing.”

“This is the first proper parents’ evening I’ve been invited to. In the past, I was only called in to talk about her behaviour. It means so much to come here and hear something positive.”

A Fresh Futures, we’re incredibly grateful to all the families who attended and helped make the evening so special.

Fresh Futures hosts 100 Top Kirklees Companies Event

Fresh Futures are thrilled to update you about the 100 Top Kirklees Companies event that took place at Brian Jackson House last month. This event, hosted by Fresh Futures and coordinated by a partnership including 3M, Huddersfield University, Huddersfield Examiner, and Huddersfield Hub, was a resounding success.

Fresh Futures was delighted to invite companies into our main hub, Brian Jackson House in central Huddersfield, to raise awareness about the charity and to offer a summer networking opportunity to the corporate sector of Kirklees. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of all involved, we achieved this and more.

the image shows 5 infdividuals stood posing for a photo at a formal event. They are all dressed in suits and dresses. From left to right, there is a woman with glasses and grey hair, to the right of her is a young man with brown hair and beard smiling, to the right of him is a woman in a green dress with blonde hair who is holding an orange document that reads Kirklees top 100 event with the man to the right of her. On the end of the right is another man who wears a suit and glasses. There is a silver and black balloon arch behind all the people.
Kirklees Top 100 Companies Event

Sue Cooke, Chief Executive Officer of 3M Buckley Innovation Centre, encapsulated the spirit of the evening perfectly:

“A big thank you to Fresh Futures for hosting the annual summer networking event for the Kirklees Top 100 Companies. It was fantastic to see so many local organisations come together to connect and build relationships. There was a real buzz around the room, and it certainly felt like a celebration of our local business community, with inspiring speakers, from emerging to longstanding companies, that shared their success stories, topped off with amazing food and drink

The evening was an opportunity to network and find out more about the exciting developments in the commercial sector within Kirklees and Fresh Futures’ employees would like to share their appreciation for all those who delivered motivating and informative speeches on the night. Additionally, Fresh Futures was delighted to welcome representatives from the top 100 companies in Kirklees, alongside SMEs and key stakeholders, including some of our much-valued Patrons.

Katie Shephard, Head of Engagement at Fresh Futures, said:

“It was a pleasure to deliver such an exciting event for the commercial sector of Kirklees. Despite the ongoing economic challenges, the country continues to face, it was fantastic to host an event attended by businesses to better understand their ongoing contributions to the local community. Fresh Futures’ vision is to engage with children, young people and families from Kirklees and this event was our opportunity help celebrate the contribution that the corporate sector makes to our region.”

this image shows a group of people engaged in a speech, there is around a dozen people, and two tables with black table cloths on. They are all engaged on what is going on in front of them, which we cannot see. There are black curtains behind the people and there is a silver mirror ball in the top right corner of the image.
the image shows a gathering of people, there are a few groups of people engaging in chats amongst themselves. The picture is taken from an aerial view of the room. There are back tables dotted around and a stage to the top of the image, on the stage there is a silver and black balloon arch, as well as blue fairy lights on the back wall.
images from the event
the image shows two women, one has blonde hair, a fringe, glasses and a black cardigan on, she is smiling. The other woman is to the right of her and we can see the left side of her body, she has short dark hair, wears a blue lanyard and is wearing a khaki green top. There are three glasses of fizz in front of them on a table.

On behalf of all employees at Fresh Futures, thank you once again to everyone who contributed to making this event a great success. Fresh Futures look forward to more opportunities to connect and collaborate with our local business community.

Join the Fresh Futures Patron Scheme

Fresh Futures would like to take this opportunity to invite you to join the Fresh Futures Patron Scheme. As a Patron, you will play a vital role in supporting our mission to provide opportunities and support for children, young people and families across Kirklees. Your involvement will help Fresh Futures continue  work in education, skills development, and community engagement.

By becoming a Patron, you will receive:

  • Regular updates on Fresh Futures projects and impact
  • Invitations to exclusive events and networking opportunities
  • Recognition on Fresh Futures website, social media and promotional materials

Your support is crucial to our mission of empowering the next generation. Together, we can create a brighter future for our community.

For more information on how to become a Patron and supporting Fresh Futures, please visit Fresh Futures website or contact us directly via [email protected]

Stay tuned for further updates and future events! #FreshFutures