Thousands of children and young people across Devon will continue to benefit from summer holiday activities clubs after the Government told us this week that it would continue to fund them for at least the next three years.
The funding is part of the national £600m Best Start in Life initiative and secures our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme until 2029 – for this summer’s programme we were allocated £1.9m.
The HAF scheme provides activities and nutritional meals over the holidays for children aged five to 16 who receive benefits-related free school meals.
We have been delivering the programme since 2018, and we work with over 100 holiday activity providers across the county who provide a wide range of activities for children and young people.
And many children who aren’t eligible to take part through the benefits-related free school meals criteria have been able to take part under our ‘extended criteria.’
This summer we also increased the number of places for secondary school aged children, with many sessions taking place during the evenings and at weekends.
Councillor Richard Jefferies, our Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Services and Education said:
“This week we have heard we are going to be able to continue to offer these essential activities clubs.
“For many families school holidays can be such a difficult and stressful time, with parents having to juggle work and caring responsibilities, and with children at home for six weeks it can become very expensive very quickly.
“There are approximately 20,000 children and young people across Devon who are eligible to attend these funded activities and to know for certain that the programme will continue for at least the next three years is good news.”
