Over 900 families benefit from council’s summer holiday programme

Date Added: 16/09/2021

1,737 children registered for summer activities

This summer, 961 families signed up to Central Bedfordshire Council’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, providing free activities for children eligible for benefit related free school meals.

1,737 children were registered for activities through HAF and took part in things like holiday and youth clubs, sports activities, and dance, drama and music workshops. Children taking part in the programme were provided with a healthy meal and snacks throughout the day.

The council worked with 21 providers to provide activities in 38 venues, in 16 locations across Central Bedfordshire.
Of 114 parents surveyed, 99% agreed that the scheme was worthwhile and 95% agreed that it had helped their children be more active and gain new skills.

One parent said: “My children have made new friends at the clubs, they have been involved in various different activities, they’ve been given healthy snacks and some clubs even provided a healthy lunch too which they wouldn’t have had if they’d been at home.”

Another said: “I was very worried for kids what are they going to do for the summer holidays, and this was one of the best summer holidays they had.”

The Council’s Holiday Activities and Food programme is for children eligible for benefit related free school meals, which is a requirement of the Department for Education who fund the programme. There were also specific activities targeted at children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).