Last year, over £1.6 million in government funding was awarded to East Sussex and thousands of children and young people had enriching experiences and a healthy lunch through the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme.
I am a big fan. It also gives important support to working parents and those with caring responsibilities when the summer holidays can be particularly challenging to juggle.
I am now working up the local evidence to make the case in Parliament that this government initiative should be continued and extended. And the kids have been helping me do just that! In the first week of the school summer holidays, I got to spend time with children, young people and their coaches and mentors, all part of this brilliant programme in Eastbourne.
It was all go at Defiant Sports Inclusion Hub in the Harbour with a number of activities on offer when I visited. I got to meet several young people working as volunteers and Ratton students, who had trained to be Sports Leaders at school. This was a new angle for me to feed into my impact assessment of HAF places. These young people were adding real value to the experience of younger children and benefiting themselves too. We know that volunteering is powerfully good for you, on every level, and these helpers were developing important attributes and building their CVs as well as confidence.
It was quite the step change then on the visit to the Yoga, Art & Food programme at West Rise Infants school, even if it was a pirate themed day. The food looked absolutely delicious and all freshly prepared. I landed at Ocklynge in time for a game of bench ball which was a perfect exercise in teamwork and the thrill of friendly competition. The Fame Academy in Mark Lane was the next HAF stop. From the very youngest to oldest, the joy of performing was so very evident and I was treated to a song and dance routine from Matilda.
Clearly lots of fun but more seriously, and it feels very wrong to talk about September and the return to lessons but one thing the Children’s Commissioner and I are hoping to see is a connection between HAF and school attendance.
Huge thank you to all in Eastbourne involved in delivering the programme.
