The Climbing Hangar

Food For Thought have developed close links with The Climbing Hangar in Liverpool, to promote the sport of bouldering within our member schools. After a long period of inactivity, it’s the perfect activity to get your pupils moving again! Bouldering is a form of indoor and outdoor climbing that involves no ropes and focuses on lower-level climbing. The sport has multiple physical and mental benefits, as well as boosting self-esteem, as participants learn to navigate routes that become increasingly more complex. Every new climb provides a sense of accomplishment!

Jay Railton, youth climbing coach at The Climbing Hangar, said, “Resilience has never been more of a focus for youth development than it is in the aftermath of the pandemic and it is just one of the values which climbing promotes”. Jay has put together a proposal for all Food For Thought schools, which details more about the sport, its benefits and the costs (which are very reasonable).

Participants just need a P.E. kit and a pair of climbing shoes to be able to take part in bouldering (The Climbing Hangar provide their rental climbing shoes for free). For the first time ever, bouldering will be an event in the Olympic Games this summer. Runcorn-born Shauna Coxsey, MBE, is the most successful competition climber in the UK, and is a member of the GB Olympic Squad for Tokyo 2021. In the autumn of 2021 Food For Thought will be collaborating with The Climbing Hangar to host an inter-school bouldering competition. Places will be limited, so contact jimmy@fftliverpool.co.uk to register your school’s interest or for a copy of Jay’s schools’ proposal.