Now, in winter, we offer five different kinds of cereal, fruit, muesli bars, a snack for recess, hot chocolate, juice, toasted cheese sandwiches – a full continental breakfast."

JJ: "Who helps you?"

JR: "When we first launched the new big version of the Club there was fantastic support from the Red Cross, and a lot of community volunteers helped us set it up. What was really wonderful was that the kids identified with it, so they just took it over. We thank all the volunteers who helped us initially, but it’s wonderful to see that the kids own it.

There are probably over 20 helpers, all with different roles at different times. Setting up begins at 7 o’clock in the morning, then the serving of food, followed by packing up, and finally washing up. So there are a lot of different groups of kids who help in whatever way they feel comfortable. Getting here at seven o’clock does require quite a commitment! But if you come by bus you can’t do that – you help in another way. The kids do it all, there’s no roster system, and nobody is asked or forced to turn up and do anything. The kids have just found themselves little groups and they happily get on with it. That’s the other success story behind the Breakfast Club. Nobody had to be asked. Students have done it off their own bat. Unbelievable. It’s the product of coming from a country community, I think."

JJ: "Why have a Walkathon?"

JR: "We finally realised that we need to fund the Club, so we developed the Walkathon for that purpose. The response from the school is huge. The students just go out there determined to get sponsors. This year Yass Computers have sponsored a laptop computer, which is wonderful. It will be awarded to the student who gets the most sponsorship.

We’re lucky that we have generous sponsors. Mark Ellis, the Buttercup distributor, and Martin’s General Store give us the bread; Red Cross help us out with the cereals; Sam Porter and Dairy Farmers supply us with the milk; As you can imagine, feeding 140 young people three times a week is a large job. The ladies down at Franklins always clear the way when I arrive to do the shopping! Also, Yass Newsagency donates the magazines. It’s already drawing in support from so many sections of the community, all working together.

The Walkathon gives us just enough money to keep going. We aim to raise between five and six thousand dollars, and that sees us through for a year. We need money not just for the food but for crockery, for example – we can’t just use serviettes and foam cups. We have to buy and replace melamine cutlery. Then students from the support unit help with the cleaning up and washing up. They learn life skills, working in an industrial kitchen, and other students benefit from being mentors to those other students, teaming up with them. Everyone’s a winner!"