Children throughout Brighton & Hove have been making the most of their summer holiday thanks to on-going support from the council.
Funded by the Department for Education, we run a popular Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme which provides free activities and food to some of the lowest income families in the city.
Activities are available during the longer school holidays and this summer more than 12,000 bookings have been made for school aged children and young people who receive benefits-related free school meals.
Sessions are provided by 35 local organisations, clubs and charities and cover everything from art and music, to coding and sport.
Councillor Emma Daniel, Cabinet member for Children, Families and Youth Services, recently visited a session being run by the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, a not-for-profit organisation which encourages people to cook and grow their own food, waste less and eat more healthily.
Cookery workshops offered through HAF have proved incredibly popular, with parents and carers taking part alongside their children to make simple homemade dishes at the state-of-the-art Community Kitchen on Queens Road.
Topics regularly covered include healthy packed lunches, low and no energy cooking, and cooking on a low budget.
Councillor Daniel met several families enjoying the HAF session and spent time talking to the community chef and volunteers from Brighton & Hove Food Partnership about the importance of the scheme.
Sessions tackle social isolation, offer vital respite to families where children have special educational needs and disabilities and help children and young people overcome anxieties, build resilience, grow more confident and access new opportunities.
HAF is just one part of our wider work to support children across the city – particularly those who qualify for free school meals.
We provide all children attending state schools in the city with year-round free swimming in local pools and, mindful of the on-going cost-of-living crisis and the challenges facing parents during the holidays, we have also issued almost 10,000 supermarket vouchers to local families in an initiative supported by the Household Support Fund.
The vouchers are worth £15 per week and are allocated to all children who receive benefits-related free school meals and nursery age children who qualify for the Early Years Pupil Premium.
Speaking following her visit to the HAF session with the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership, Councillor Daniel said: “School holidays can be a stressful time for families to navigate, with significant added expense and the challenge of juggling childcare.
“But school holidays should be a time children can enjoy and spend creating lifelong memories. Cost should not be a barrier.
“It was fantastic to visit the recent session and see the difference our free, fully funded HAF programme is having.
“We’re fortunate to work with some amazing local organisations and it is great to know the council is playing its part in helping children and their families make the most of their summer.”
For more information on our HAF programme visit: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/haf.