The Youth Justice team was delighted to host a Health and Wellbeing Day on the 19th of June at our offices. This event aimed to provide a safe place for young people to network with members of the business community whilst learning how to create healthy smoothies. This event was supported by Sue Woollett, Social Value Manager at Stepnell, Tracy Renshaw a Communications and Engagement Partner at Walker and Son, Jessica Kalar, Recruitment Administrator at Sytner Group. The event was also attended by 11 participants consisting of 9 males and 2 females.
In preparation for the event, the room was set up with a variety of fresh and frozen fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds, natural yoghurt, honey, dates, prunes, milk, and juice. The event was facilitated by Julie Cort, Personal Trainer and Founder of Kickass Fitness. Julie commenced the session by explaining the importance of nutrition as it relates to an overall healthy lifestyle. Julie conducted a demonstration by creating a smoothie and inviting feedback from everyone in attendance. Julie also encouraged everyone to be adventurous and utilise items that were unfamiliar to them.
The event was not what I expected I made some smoothies that should have kept me up all night. Was a great way to meet new people and I would be very happy if there could be another one.
Participant feedback
It was good, I enjoyed it.
Participant feedback
Some participants were shy initially and took some time to settle in. The participants who were shy, were paired up with participants who were more outgoing. Eventually, there was music playing and both young people and business members were interacting and actively engaged in creating their own smoothies. Some of the smoothie combinations are as follows:
- Cacao powder, banana, dates, honey, almond milk, protein powder, flaxseed, peanut butter and mixed berries
- Spinach, kale, avocado, lemon, almond milk, protein powder, and apple
- Mango and avocado
- Mixed berries, protein powder, and oat milk
It was brilliant to see how, after some initial reluctance, everyone learned a fantastic way to improve their intake of vitamins and minerals through exciting and tasty combinations of fruit and veg. Leicestershire Cares has a wonderful approach to engaging young people, who clearly enjoy the variety of opportunities to get involved.
Sue Woollett- Social Value Manager, Stepnell
I had the absolute pleasure of facilitating the smoothie workshop and what a great day it was!
Julie Cort- Personal Trainer and Founder- Kickass Fitness
It was amazing to see all the guys getting stuck in, being creative with all the ingredients and bringing greens into their recipes too.
When first we started you could sense the apprehension and uncertainty but even a quarter of the way through the whole group were diving in and the enthusiasm was so great to see.
I talked to many of the participants at the end and they were all keen to try some recipes at home. which was so awesome to hear.
It was a real pleasure to be involved and I hope I can help you guys in the future.
It was a pleasure to support the Youth Justice Project for their Smoothie making session. Some of the participants seemed a bit nervous at first but once they got into it, you couldn’t stop them! Lots of great flavoured smoothies, using some ingredients you wouldn’t think of to include, a great success all round.
Tracy Renshaw- Communications and Engagement Partner- Walker and Son
Prior to the commencement of the session, it was identified that two participants had a nut allergy so in order to protect them, two new bottles and a blender were assigned to them and their names were added to the relevant bottles to avoid them using a bottle. Participants were also encouraged to create names for their smoothies. These are some of the names they came up with:
- Step-up Smoothie
- The SS Smoothie
- Slim Shady Greens
- Valhalla
- Jess
I had a great time with Leicestershire Cares, it was a great event and I had the opportunity to interact and network with their young people whilst making some delicious and healthy smoothies.
Jessica Kalar-Recruitment Administrator – BMW/MINI
It was useful for learning healthy habits and also fun to try something new.
Participant feedback
I thought it was good and a good chance to meet new friends.
Participant feedback
This event was a great team-building activity as both participants and business members moved around the table to reach their chosen ingredients. It encouraged active communication, broke down barriers, and provided a platform to build confidence and forge new relationships.
We would like to thank our business members Stepnell, Sytner, and Walker and Sons for allowing their staff to attend the event in order to participate and network with our participants.
Get Involved
If you are a business in Leicester, Leicestershire or Rutland and would like to offer young people from our youth projects an opportunity to get involved in the world of work through a work placement or apprenticeship, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
Youth Justice Project Development Manager
Chikodi Lori
chikodi@leicestershirecares.co.uk
To read about our Power to Change approach, click on the link below:
For more information and insight into the Youth Justice Projects click the links below:
https://www.leicestershirecares.co.uk/about-charity/news-events-/vip-personal-branding-workshop-v2/