The Kids Inspire summer of online ‘superhero’ Lunch Clubs

Holiday lunch club has started at Kids Inspire and it is the usual format of a healthy lunch and fun activity, just this summer families have the option of joining a live online session or to follow DIY instructions. 

The theme for the summer is ‘superheroes’ and during six weekly online sessions, different hosts from the Kids Inspire therapeutic team, will encourage children to make something that a super-hero might wear from contents delivered in their weekly activity pack.

Yesterday’s lunch club, the first this holiday, saw volunteers deliver 60 individually packed fresh lunch boxes and 42 packs full of craft and fun activities.

Kids Inspire’s Play Therapist, Sue, hosted the first session where children made a superhero eye mask using cardboard, pencils, and squeezy paint bushes from activity packs. 

Sue asked the children to write on the back of the mask: “What makes YOU a super-hero. For example, how did you cope with the lockdown, not going to school, not seeing your friends? Whatever you have achieved over this time, write it down on the back of the mask so it will remind you every time you wear it what a super-hero you are!”

One parent who received the lunch club goodies for her two children said:

“Thank you, we were delighted to find all the goodies left on the doorstep. The food was excellent, very fresh & very good quality, the girls were extremely happy with all of it and I was grateful to see the two pieces of fruit each. The lemon cake was the only part that I got to taste (and then only a tiny bit!) and that was delicious. Everything was extremely well packaged; the girls made their own arts and crafts with the things supplied.”

Lunch club has been an integral part of Kids Inspire’s community outreach programme for nine years. As with their mental health services during lockdown, the children’s charity quickly identified the ‘need‘ to continue with the lunch club offering, this year in particular. 

Sue Bell, CEO and Clinical Director at Kids Inspire, said:

“Our lunch club has provided a lifeline for families for the last nine years. This year it is needed more than ever.”

Essex Community Foundation have provided significant funding for the lunch club and Abigail’s Deli in Ingatestone made up the individual boxes, they also reduced the cost of the boxes to enable the increased demand for the lunches to be met – rising from 40 to 60 lunches.

For further details please contact Emily Patel on [email protected] or call 07920163736.