Backed by £9 million, the Government’s Holiday
Activities and Food programme will support up to 50,000
disadvantaged children across 17 local authority areas
and help them to stay healthy and active over the
summer.
Ten providers were successful in their bid for the
programme, who will be supporting families in need with
activities and healthy meals. Activities will include a
variety of online and directly delivered physical
activities such as dance, Yoga, HIIT and adventure play
making the most of their outdoor spaces.
Minister for Children and Families said:
It is more important than ever before to make sure
the needs of the most disadvantaged are at the heart
of everything we do. We cannot afford for any of our
children to lose out of their education as a result
of Covid-19.
Just last week we announced the Covid Summer Food
Fund, and a £1 billion Covid catch up fund so that no
child is left behind.
On top of this, we are rolling out the £9 million
Holiday Activities and Food programme in England,
ensuring that thousands of children will be able to
benefit from free nutritious food and enriching
activities during the summer period.
John Downes, StreetGames North East Area Director and
Head of Youth and Sport, said:
StreetGames campaign Fit and Fed has been developed
to ensure summer programmes are delivered by trained
staff to provide 4 hours of activity and a meal at
School Food Standards. Last year Newcastle’s Best
Summer ever was a success across the city and we hope
to build on that success this year. We’re delighted
to be working alongside Newcastle upon Tyne Council
to deliver this year’s holiday program which will
provide much needed support to children and families
who have suffered the full force of lockdown
isolation.
This year we hope to engage many children and their
families across the city via mixed approach that will
flex as social distancing changes. We will invest in
local community organisations to provide support
right to the front doors of children through activity
packs, weekly activity programmes and food parcels to
provide families with food over the summer holiday
period. We will also be encouraging activities to
take place in open spaces within the community for
children and their families to reengage with each
other as and when social distancing allows this to
take place.
Angela Allen, CEO of Spring North, said:
Blackburn with Darwen has more than 20,000 children
living in food poverty so these HAF clubs will
provide a vital lifeline for families in the area. In
addition to providing a hot meal and snacks, the
clubs will facilitate a way for young people across
the communities to reconnect in a safe environment
and enjoy a range of activities that are fun and help
to build their skills including teamwork, cooperation
and communication.
We will also be working with a number of parents to
support them with life skills activities including
cooking clubs, wellbeing support and debt, welfare
and employment advice.
We are looking forward to working with our partners
and delivering our Get Stuck In clubs during August,
providing essential support for our families across
Blackburn with Darwen.
Jonathan de Sausmarez, headteacher at Romsey Community
School in Hampshire, said:
I am really pleased that the need for vulnerable
families to have support and care over the summer
holidays has been recognised. We had a very
successful programme last year and we have been able
to include new venues and introduce new activities.
We want to make a real difference and we are very
proud to support this much needed project.
The news comes after the Government announced the Covid
Summer Food Fund on Tuesday 16 June, which will support
children who are eligible for free school meals with a
voucher to cover the full six week summer holiday
beginning next month, which schools will be able to
order before the end of term.
This adds to the wide range of support this government
has put in place to support families, not just at
school but through the welfare system, in funding for
local services, and via a new welfare assistance scheme
to help those who are struggling.
The summer 2020 Holiday Activities and Food programme
builds on the success of last year and is reaching
disadvantaged children in more areas across England.
Each organisation will deliver at least four weeks of
free activities and healthy food during July and August
2020. All the successful co-ordinators have confirmed
that their programmes will adhere to relevant
government public health advice and are committed to
providing free food and activities for as many
disadvantaged children as possible.
The 10 co-ordinators receiving a share of the £9
million across 17 local authorities are:
- StreetGames (Newcastle, North East region)
- Gateshead Council (Gateshead - North East region)
- Edsential (Cheshire West and Chester, Halton,
Wirral - North West region)
- Spring North (Blackburn with Darwen - North West)
- Leeds Community Foundation (Leeds and Bradford -
Yorkshire & the Humber region)
- Voluntary Action Sheffield (Sheffield - Yorkshire
& the Humber region)
- Suffolk County Council (Suffolk - East of England
region)
- Mayor’s Fund for London (Lambeth and Southwark -
London)
- Tower Hamlets Local Authority (Tower Hamlets -
London)
- The Romsey School (Hampshire, Southampton,
Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight - South East region)
