A KEIGHLEY restaurant is offering 600 free meals so that schools can organise fundraising nights.

Events venue Roland’s, in Skipton Road, Utley, will turn its entire restaurant over to ten schools for one evening each.

Each school can sell tickets for as much money as they want for each of the 60 three-course meals on offer, keeping the proceeds.

The offer of ten free vouchers for the schools – the brainchild of owner Roland Embleton – is part of celebrations to mark the restaurant’s reopening following extensive refurbishment.

Keighley Mayor, Councillor Javaid Akhtar, presented the first voucher to Stanbury Village School during the recent reopening ceremony, where he cut the ribbon.

Mr Embleton said he planned to work more closely with schools and businesses.

New facilities include high-spec video conferencing equipment, installed by specialist Keighley firm Immineo, enabling businesses and organisations to connect worldwide. There are also training facilities.

Mr Embleton said: “We’ve made some big changes to Roland’s and to mark our regeneration, we felt we should do something that would help the local community.

“To celebrate our opening, we were delighted the mayor and local companies were able to join us, as well as representatives from Stanbury Village School, the very first school in our scheme.”

Mr Embleton said schools could sell tickets at whatever cost, to boost their own funds.

Cllr Javaid Akhtar was given a tour, along with representatives from local companies, to view meeting and training space. Other guests included Cllr Shabir Ahmed.

Stanbury Village School headteacher, Graham Swinbourne, said he is delighted by the fundraising opportunity gifted by Roland’s.

He added: “The Parent Teacher Association and I are very grateful and will be taking up the offer before the end of the year! We wish Roland's every success with their new facilities."

Cllr Akhtar congratulated Mr Embleton on the reopening of the business and the venue’s "innovative diversification venture".

He added: “I am also very happy to see local business helping local schools in providing a venue facility for them to hold their fundraising events.

“I would urge businesses to use the facilities on offer at Roland's and help each other in a difficult trading climate."

Rolands has previously supported Airedale Hospital’s maternity appeal. The restaurant raised funds throughout 2013 to help the Steeton hospital’s labour ward, as well as displaying posters, staging events, giving meal vouchers and donating money from lunch hampers.

E-mail events@rolands.co.uk or call 01535 958001 for more details about the school’s fundraising scheme and the business facilities.

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