Funding available for providers of Christmas holiday activities for children
The Crossbar Foundation holiday club
Groups, organisations and individuals planning to deliver Christmas holiday activities for the under-16s are being invited to apply for funding from Shropshire Council.
The funding – available through the Department for Education (DfE) holiday activities and food (HAF) programme – is intended to subsidise free places on new or existing holiday programmes for children and young people who are eligible for free school meals.
It follows a successful programme of HAF activities delivered across Shropshire during the recent summer holidays.
In Shropshire, there are more than 5,000 children and young people registered to claim benefits-related free school meals.
Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Councijl’s Cabinet member for children and education, said:
“The Summer HAF programme in Shropshire was incredibly successful, especially as it was the first year of running this countywide programme. It is fantastic that the opportunity for children to take part in these exciting and varied activities can be repeated during the Christmas holidays.
“One again, we want to commission a rich and diverse programme of activities delivered by organisations from the private, voluntary and public sector that respond to local need, draws in the wider community and are delivered in a variety of ways.”
For activity providers in Shropshire there are two types of grant which can be applied for:
- Core Provision: which must have activities lasting for a minimum of 4 hours per day, for at least one day in the week of 20 – 24 December 2021. Healthy meals must also be provided. Read the Shropshire HAF Guidance for Core Providers for the full criteria.
- Enrichment Activities Only: Enrichment providers can offer workshops to enhance the Core HAF provision, focusing only on enriching the experience of those children taking part in the HAF programme, within the week of 20 – 24 December 2021. Read the Shropshire HAF Guidance for Enrichment Providers for more details.
The deadline for applications is 29 October 2021.
The activities can also be available to any child or young person not eligible for free school meals, who can pay to attend.
The holiday activities and food programme, campaigned for by footballer Marcus Rashford, aims to make holiday activities as accessible and inclusive as possible.
For more information about Shropshire HAF visit the Shropshire HAF Website or contact HAF.programme@shropshire.gov.uk
