A COMMUNITY initiative providing secondary school students and residents with free breakfast is set to launch at a youth club.

Saif Khan of Saif Spaces will be starting a café to help with the cost of living in Buttershaw, where children will be able to get a free, nutritious breakfast and a space to get together before heading to school.

The initiative comes as one school in the area told Saif it was providing 400 bagels a week to students who weren’t entitled to free school meals.

He said: “I run boxing classes at the youth club and after the sessions, we offer fruit to the children and we get them to talk a little, but we noticed that some of the kids were trying to take fruit home.

“I got in touch with a local school and asked them their thoughts on this and they told me they were handing out 400 bagels a week to students.

“So, I got the idea for this café, where secondary school students can get a healthy breakfast and then get to school, but I also want to help out the local community and parents.”

He hopes to run two sessions every morning: one for school students from 7am to 8.20am and the other from 9am to 10.30am.

Around 45 young people attend the boxing sessions at the youth club each week and Saif hopes that a similar number of people will use the café.

“We’ll look at the numbers, see how many people are using the café and we can then work from there," he said.

“I definitely think this is needed because instead of using heating and electricity at home, parents can send their children here and they can get a good breakfast.”

The café will shut for students at 8.20am every day, giving them plenty of time to get to school.

The second session will accommodate for parents and locals who can come and get breakfast but also seeks support from services such as the Green Doctors, the debt agency and local mental health services.

Saif applied for funding from UKSF cost of living and received partial funding for the project.

He is still working to get local businesses on board to help support him in this act of important community service.

He said: “A lot of businesses have helped us out, we’ve had a fridge donated to us by We are Queensbury, some tables and chairs form a shop in Heckmondwike called Over 2 Hills and a kitchen at the youth club that’s been donated by Wren.”

Saif said: “I’m really excited and looking forward to getting this café opened for the secondary school pupils and people of Buttershaw.”