Wandsworth’s successful Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme gave the early education minster a first-hand experience of its impact ahead of the upcoming Child Poverty Task Force strategy launch.
The HAF programme was first launched by the Department for Education (DfE) in 2018, before reaching all local authorities by 2021, and was designed to support disadvantaged families during the school holidays by providing healthy meals and enriching activities to young people.
Minister for Early Education Stephen Morgan MP visited Ernest Bevin Academy in Tooting on 16 April and underlined the importance of continuing the programme.
Morgan said: “We want to break down the barriers to opportunity to make sure that every child, whatever their background, succeeds and thrives.
“What i’ve seen today in Wandsworth is the fantastic HAF programme making a real difference, with children accessing opportunities that ordinarily they wouldn’t get to access at school.
“Go-karting outside, the climbing wall – these are the sort of things that give them enrichment opportunities.”
Adela Kausitzova, HAF Co-ordinator For Richmond and Wandsworth Councils, said the HAF programme has such a big impact because it allows children from different schools to socialise, with one child calling HAF “Here Are Friends”.
The HAF programme typically runs during the winter, Easter and summer holidays, allowing parents to work extra shifts or support their family in other ways.
In the last year, it supported more than 4,800 children in Wandsworth, including one in four with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Wandsworth’s HAF programme is closely integrated with wider local support services, including Family Hubs, the borough’s Access for All scheme, and the successful Magic Breakfast initiative, which now provides meals to more than 3,000 pupils daily.
A major facet of the HAF programme is providing healthy nutritious meals and promoting an active lifestyle.
The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) reported 26.8% of children aged two to 15 were overweight or obese in 2022/23.
The NCMP also found that children living in more deprived areas are substantially more likely to be obese, with those in the most deprived being approximately twice as likely to be obese than those in the least deprived.
Tooting Bec Ward councillor and chair of Wandsworth Council’s children’s committee Sheila Boswell explained the committee is dedicated to providing healthy hot meals to children, which accommodate for allergies, intolerances and preferences as well.
Boswell said: “A lot of families rely on that hot school meal, especially on free school meals, and then the holidays come and you suddenly don’t have [those meals] but you’ve got four kids – it’s hard.
“We have a very strong programme where we serve healthy food [whilst teaching the children] how it grows.
“There is a strict criteria about what we expect from our providers.”
Cllr Boswell, who formerly worked with Save The Children, highlighted the need to bring communities together amidst the wealth disparity in many parts of Wandsworth.
Morgan added: “Obesity can rob children of opportunities.”
The HAF programme is one of many government initiatives aimed at improving food and health standards in children, such as the More Than A Meal scheme, the strengthened council powers to ban takeaways from opening near schools, and the ban on junk food ads until the 9pm watershed.
In order to target those most in need, the HAF programme offers 85% of spaces to those on free school meal (FSM) benefits and a further 15% to other groups who aren’t but are in need of support, such as refugees, asylum seekers, or SEND children.
Adela Kausitzova added that there are a variety of activities on offer across the HAF sites to suit each child’s preferences whilst also promoting physical activity, such as boxing, gardening, arts & craft, a forest school, and some providers even offer trips for families.
She said: “Every provider needs to be inclusive.”
Crazy Camps, a regular provider for HAF programmes in Wandsworth, centre their curriculum around offering the children fun, enjoyment and a break from school.
Crazy Camps founder James Boit said: “The most important thing is that the kids are safe, the second most important thing is that the kids have a good time.”
To ensure quality across the board, an extra £200million has been announced for the HAF programme for the next financial year, with the DfE working closely with local authorities to make sure allocated funds satisfy local needs.
The DfE’s broader strategy is to introduce breakfast clubs in every primary school, which would save families around £450 a year, introduce dedicated support in schools around mental health, and a continued commitment to 30 hours of funded childcare a week, which will save parents an average £7,500 a year.
Morgan added the government recognises that families are still facing real challenges around the cost of living crisis and they aim to support families further when the Child Poverty Task Force concludes later this year.
The role of the task force is to oversee the development and publication of an ambitious cross-government strategy to reduce child poverty, improve the livelihood of children, and address the root causes of child poverty in the long term.
Feature image credit: Wandsworth Council
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