Big boys' arctic adventure to get local families eating better

Sunday 26 June 2016

A team of dads and their sons have a huge mountain to climb to help get families in Jersey eating better and sharing a meal together.

Magnus Olsson and his son 13 year-old son Leo and Phil Ruelle and his 11 year-old son Seth are hiking up Sweden's highest mountain next month to raise money for a new local campaign HOPE set up by Caring Cooks of Jersey to Help Other People Eat Well.

Magnus who is a director at Brevan Howard said:“My son Leo (13) and I wanted to go on a father and son adventure and find a way to support the local community at the same time.  After some thought, we agreed on a hike up the highest mountain in Sweden, Kebnekaise (2100m) at the end of July, and really wanted to use the experience to raise funds for Caring Cooks of Jersey.

"My wife and I love that Caring Cooks create the opportunity for families to learn the life skill of cooking.  It is by the dinner table that the family has the time to catch up and the healthy eating habits developed have a positive impact on wellbeing of course."

Phil who's Chief Operating Officer for Greenlight said: “I am a friend of Magnus and when he told me of his plan I knew I had to get involved. The challenge itself, the chance to undertake it alongside my son and the opportunity to help support and promote an incredibly worthwhile local charity were too good an opportunity to miss."

The charity launched their HOPE campaign a few months ago because of their concerns that long working hours, money worries, serious illness and a lack of skills and confidence often mean local parents and their children are not eating a balanced and nutritious diet.

Phil said: “Today’s busy schedules and the ever increasing cost of food means meal times are more often being turned from enjoyable, shared experiences into simply ‘re-fueling’, in many cases just filling a hole with cheap, nutritionally poor food.

“This extends into all aspects of life with children going to school without the proper sustenance to keep them alert and focussed; adults struggling to function adequately, falling into and out of illness due to poor diet.

“Echoing the social benefits of meals as a shared experience the project itself has a family basis and is made up of a number of father and sons.

The team are meeting up with some other dads and their sons from both London and Sweden to trek up Kebnekaise, that's way above the arctic circle, and they hope to raise £1 for every metre they climb.

Phil said: "We are going out each weekend to various locations around the island, particularly around the coasts and cliff paths, to train on our local rugged terrain. Unfortunately we can’t find anywhere that’s snow covered so we’ll just have deal with that when we get there."

You can find out more about the HOPE campaign on the Caring Cooks of Jersey website here and you can help Magnus, Leo, Phil and Seth with their fundraising here.