An Extra Helping Hand from High Wycombe Community Board

Care leavers and children at three local schools are getting extra support this winter from the High Wycombe Community Board.

The Helping Hands Extra project is complementing Buckinghamshire Council’s commitment to provide support to vulnerable residents over the school holidays. The Clare Foundation and Leap are providing match funding to deliver this ‘Extra’ support.

47 care leavers in High Wycombe will receive a £40 multi-store or major supermarket voucher and can choose whether to purchase household items or non-essential food items. The Clare Foundation is providing 50% match funding for the gift cards, which will be presented to them next week.  

Martin Gallagher, CEO of The Clare Foundation said: “It’s a tough time for young people coming out of care and having to set up home can be a struggle, especially at this time of year, and in the middle of a global pandemic. We hope, that with this small gift, each of them will be able to buy something that they wouldn’t normally be able to afford.”

Pupils in Year 3 at three High Wycombe schools –  Castlelfield, Disraeli and Millbrook – will be given a Leap Boredom Buster activity bag. In the 250 bags being handed out are cards that show how to use equipment to get active and also provide options to improvise using items easily found in the home. Leap are distributing the bags free of charge before the school holidays begin.

Mark Ormerod, Director of Leap said: “Children are among those hardest hit by the COVID pandemic and many have had limited or no access to sport or physical activity opportunities during lockdown, which in turn negatively affects their physical and mental health. Our Boredom Buster bags contain a set of activity cards, giving fun, easy to try ideas on how families can get active both indoors and outdoors.”

Miss Mansfield, Headteacher at Millbrook Combined School said: “I am delighted to offer thanks on behalf of the pupils in Year 3 at Millbrook.  Millbrook is an Active School working to ensure all members of our school community are active during the day as well as at home.  The Boredom Buster Activity Packs are great and provide lots of ideas and resources to help keep families active over the Christmas break and beyond.”

Jo Pikulski, Co-Headteacher at Disraeli School added: “We are really grateful for the Boredom Buster bags given to all children in Year 3; the children were delighted and are looking forward to being active over the holidays!”

For further information about the activity bags see Leap’s website https://www.leapwithus.org.uk/2020/07/27/activity-equipment-packs-helping-disadvantaged-families-feel-the-benefit-of-moving-more/ 

Councillor Arif Hussain, Chairman of the High Wycombe Community Board said: “COVID -19 recovery, resilience and regeneration, together with community cohesion, community and mental health are a key focus for the High Wycombe Community Board area. The generosity of The Clare Foundation and LEAP has meant the Community Board funding has been able to stretch further and positively impact more young people than we ever imagined. I can’t thank everyone involved enough.”