‘Ask The Question’ thanks the Community Foundation For Calderdale for their support after resounding success of their ‘Never Hungry Again’ course
Ask The Question CIC, the Hebden Bridge based fund which provides Calderdale children with the opportunity to access private tuition and mentorship, has praised the Community Foundation For Calderdale for their support, which enabled them to provide an informative course to students to educate them about the benefits of healthy living.
The course, which was carried out over 10 weeks, worked alongside a group of students aged 13-18 from around Calderdale who had experienced adverse childhood experiences, the majority of which had experienced local authority care.
The students were asked before starting the course how confident they felt about carrying out certain domestic tasks and responsibilities, including building a healthy lifestyle. 85 per cent of the students asked didn’t feel confident about living independently, including having the ability to budget for a home, cook healthy meals, look after their mental and physical health, be aware of drug and alcohol misuse, and protect their sexual health.
The course, funded as part of the ‘Never Hungry Again’ initiative, has been a resounding success, with 100 per cent of the students now marking that they were now much more confident having taken the course about living independently, with 60 per cent marking ‘10 out of 10’ on the scale. The students included looked-after children who are moving to independent living in the next few years, young carers, and young people who were adopted late in life and missed out on many of the nutritional benefits of a secure early-years environment.
Steve Duncan, CEO of CFFC commented, “Funding this project has been so worthwhile and the work that Ask The Question do is so valuable. Well done and thank you for changing the lives of these students which will help them living in our community.”
Children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences, including neglect, trauma and abuse, are more likely to experience poor mental and physical health as adults. They are said to be at an increased risk in later life of alcoholism, drug abuse, sexually transmitted infections, heart disease and teen pregnancy (Source: Nerissa Bauer). Ask The Question formulated the 10 week course which helps build skills, and more importantly, build confidence in the students ahead of them living independently for the first time, and enabled them to build a healthy lifestyle and positive domestic situation.
Jo Austin, founder of Ask The Question, said, “Our course really has been a phenomenal success, with 100 per cent of the students we worked with saying that they now felt much more confident that they were able to build a healthy, happy home ahead of their move to independent living. It’s been an absolute pleasure working alongside the Community Foundation for Calderdale, who do excellent work in the community, and we’ve already had a significant demand to run this course again, so watch this space!”
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Notes to editor:
Ask The Question is a CIC based in Hebden Bridge. Their aim is to improve the educational outcomes for vulnerable children and young people, aged between 8 and 18, who have been affected by adverse childhood experiences and those whose education and confidence has suffered as a result of abuse, neglect or trauma. They have so far worked with around 80 children, 47 of which have been in local authority care.
The Community Foundation for Calderdale helps local people do extraordinary things. They fund and support a vast range of activities that help young people, older people and disabled people, as well as homelessness, sports, environmental, education, and mental health projects, plus everything in between. The Community Foundation for Calderdale works with local communities to inspire and encourage projects that they want to see, to make their neighbourhoods happier, healthier and safer places to be.
Contact: Rachel Oates / 01422349700 / @CalderdaleFound / WWW.CFFC.CO.UK