Record number of Hampshire families helped over Christmas
More than 5,000 children had access to free hot meals and activities
More than 5,000 vulnerable children across Hampshire enjoyed hot meals and fun over the Christmas holidays thanks to the County Council’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, funded by the Department for Education (DfE).
Feedback from the 47 organisations which provided holiday clubs across 125 sites shows that Christmas 2022 saw the programme expanding significantly from 2021, with 5,637 children accessing 18,500 sessions – at no cost for those eligible for free school meals and focused on providing healthy food and exercise alongside enriching activities and play.
Councillor Edward Heron, Executive Lead Member for Children’s Services, welcomed the results, which have been reported to the DfE. He said: “It is heartening that despite attendance being affected by Strep A and winter flu, we were able to serve hot and healthy meals and offer good-quality physical activity and food education to young people and their families over the holiday. This surpassed our target of supporting 5000 children and represents an increase of 18 per cent on last year.
“Most impressive has been the increase in local partnership working, with food banks, community pantries and a number of supermarkets providing sessions and ingredients at little or no cost, enabling participants to take home food to cook and share with their families. Hampshire’s libraries have also acted as information hubs, enabling families involved to access further support where needed. I look forward to visiting some of HAF sessions during the Easter break when even more children will be able to join in.”
In Hampshire, there are more than 33,000 children who are eligible for free HAF places and the County Council is working hard to expand the provision with the budget available. The project, which runs over the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays, is funded until 2025 by a ÂŁ10 million government grant, and delivered by local providers including schools, sports and arts organisations and community venues, all commissioned, trained and monitored by Hampshire County Council.
To help families already attending local sessions to access additional support between Christmas and New Year, 774 HAF packs – including meal ingredients, cooking instructions, books and activity kits – were distributed alongside some of the face-to face sessions.
Under Hampshire’s connect4communities umbrella, HAF is able to link families to other resources aimed at helping with the cost of living, such as the Household Support Fund and community pantries, and works closely with the County’s Public Health service. In addition, and particularly relevant with soaring energy costs, all providers were trained by Hampshire's Hitting the Cold Spots service to triage families to energy saving resources and grants.
Providers for the Easter 2023 programme are currently being finalised. When available, venues and dates will be posted here.