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Abbeycroft Leisure: Explore Outdoor

Abbeycroft Leisure is a not-for-profit social enterprise working for the whole community, providing quality facilities and opportunities to lead a healthier, active lifestyle.

This Summer, they are supporting young people and families in Suffolk. You can browse what’s on offer and book here.

To submit your own case studies, email [email protected]. We’d love to help spread the word about your organisation.

Full text version:

Abbeycroft Leisure’s Explore Outdoor project is supporting young people and their families to get active, eat well and develop skills that help them lead healthier, more active lives. Taking place in parks and open spaces across Suffolk, the team arrange a wide range of fun activities, from Family Park Cooking to Adventure Days! Participants can take part in activities including orienteering, geocaching, archery, fire-lighting, bushcraft and shelter building. Not only that, but the families get the chance to make their own meal, cooked with fresh ingredients, using recipes developed by top local Chef James Carn. They even cook over a campfire – a truly memorable experience!

All families receive recipe packs and videos developed by the chef showing how to cook the various meals.  Families in receipt of free school meals also receive a box of fresh ingredients provided by a high-quality restaurant wholesaler, helping them to cook and enjoy these free meals for a week. In this way, the families learn how they can enjoy quality food that will cost them £30 for the week. Even better, they can enjoy this activity with other families (in accordance with social contact/distancing requirements) so are less isolated, can have fun outdoors, and gain the skills and confidence to be more physically active and prepare affordable, high quality, nutritious and interesting meals.

The work has been a resounding success, having engaged 1,005 families, provided 1,772 adventure days and given over 20,000 individual meals! The sessions are continuing to run over the summer holidays, 26th July-26th August, across Suffolk. They’re making a real difference to people’s lives.