Winter: 20-23 December 2021

What’s new in winter?

Nutritionist

GCC hired a nutritionist in time for winter to improve the overall HAF food offer. He liaised closely with districts to approve the contents of their food boxes as well as develop over 11 different recipes to go along with the food boxes.

We were also able to put a bigger emphasis on nutritional education for children and families. 8 food-focused videos were created, including cook along and healthy tips and tricks like how to design a healthy dinner plate.

Family Support

GCC commissioned a family support service for winter across 3 providers; Barnardos, Aspire Foundation and Families First.

These providers were already working with vulnerable families and so were well placed to target those who would greatly benefit from the scheme. 

Amongst other things they were able to support families who may have struggled to use the CABS system to book activities and ensure they were able to access the offer.

Omicron Covid Variant

Unfortunately, in the lead up to the HAF delivery, the newest strain of Covid-19, Omicron was spreading rapidly in the UK. This affected delivery in several ways. There were concerns whether new restrictions being put in place by the government would restrict HAF from going forward or that people would want to avoid any contact so that they would still be able to spend the Christmas period with family.

The same reasoning is also relevant for HAF and HAP families who prioritised keeping safe in the uncertain period, which is why you can see a decrease in attendance numbers in the next section.

During the winter HAF 86 providers delivered activities that reached 49% of FSM children and young people which was 8,079 individuals. 10,796 food boxes and tokens were also provided.