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Spring holiday activity booking opens tomorrow

Published
Activity booking for the spring Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) opens tomorrow at 5pm, offering free healthy, holiday activities for families across Gloucestershire.

The Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) is funded by the Department of Education, for children eligible for benefits related free school meals.

Families can access up to four days of fun activities for free in their local area during the Easter school holidays.

Using grant funding, the county council and its district partners are also making holiday activities available to all children and young people through its Holiday Activity Programme (HAP).

The exciting line up of enriching activities available includes family days out, sensory play, football, basketball, forest skills, gymnastics and much more.

Activities are available between 3 – 14 April. To find out what is happening in their local area and when activities are taking place, families should follow their HAF district lead on social media for updates.

Parents and carers need to sign up to the Children’s Activity and Booking System (CABS). Families who have registered previously have been automatically enrolled and do not need to sign up again.

More information is available for parents at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/haf.

Last summer, 60 per cent of eligible children participated in HAF activities. The successful programme continues to grow, with the county council and its six district partners now working with over 50 activity providers across Gloucestershire. In January 2023, council’s cabinet approved the allocation of around £4 million of support for children and families over the next three years.

Cllr Stephen Davies, cabinet member for children’s safeguarding and early years at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “The Holiday Activities and Food programme is always very popular, and we know from previous years that some activities get booked up quickly once booking opens.

“I’d encourage parents who haven’t registered to do it now, so they will be ready to book when the activities go live. Families should also follow their district HAF on social media for regular updates.”

In summer 2022, over 16 days, 58 activity providers delivered:

  • 28,610 activity sessions and
  • 7,512 food boxes to
  • 10,073 primary school children,
  • 3,099 secondary school children and
  • 2,313 children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities.