Holiday Activities and Food Programme

Holiday activities for children

Children and young people across the district may be eligible for free school holiday club places and a meal.

The government’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme takes place during:

Easter
Summer
Christmas

We have provided additional money to provide further holiday activities during the following half terms:

February
May
October

HAF enables children and young people to enjoy fun activities with friends and develop new skills.

Who is eligible?

The activities are for those who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals.

Other eligibility can include:

Children assessed by the local authority as being in need, at risk or vulnerable.
Young carers.
Looked-after children or previously looked after children.
Children with an EHC (education, health and care) plan
Children who have low attendance rates at school or who are at risk of exclusion.
Children living in areas of high deprivation or from low-income households who are not in receipt of free school meals.
Children in transition phases between nursery and primary school or primary and secondary school.

If a child is not eligible, most providers offer paid for spaces.

How can I book activities?

Please note that from the May 2024 half term onwards, we are using the online booking system Eequ. Guardians of eligible children can book spaces for HAF activities through our Eequ profile:

Book a HAF activity online

If you have any queries, please email HAFenquiries@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk.

Contact us

If you need any support, please contact our HAF Coordinator Rachel Cattermole on HAFenquiries@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk

Timetable of activities

We update this webpage with information about holiday activities available for children, as and when they happen.

We will update this webpage with information about holiday activities available for children, as and when they happen.

Please note that the table below contains activities that are taking place in the districts of Babergh and Mid Suffolk.

Book a HAF activity online

Holiday Activities

Dates	Summary	Provider	Venue	Contact
28 October – 1 November	Holiday club involving multi-sports, arts, and crafts. 9am – 5pm (early drop-off and late pick-up available)	Kicks and Tricks	Grace Cook Primary School, Stowmarket IP14 1XJ	Visit Kicks and Tricks’ website ⧉ Email info@kicksandtricks.co.uk Phone 01449 401630
28 October – 1 November	Holiday club involving multi-sports, arts, and crafts. 9am – 5pm (early drop-off and late pick-up available)	Kicks and Tricks	Beaumont Primary School, Hadleigh IP7 6GD	Visit Kicks and Tricks’ website ⧉ Email info@kicksandtricks.co.uk Phone 01449 401630
28 October – 1 November	Multi-activity courses including a range of sports, activities, arts and crafts. For 5-12 year olds	Premier Education	St Peter's and St Pauls Church Street, Eye, Suffolk IP23 7BD	Visit Premier Education's website Email info@premier-education.com Phone 01953 499040
28 October – 1 November	Family swim session and Playworld - including taster sessions in various sports. For primary school ages	Everyone Active	Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre, Gainsborough Road, Stowmarket IP14 1LH	Visit Everyone Active's website Phone 01449 674980 Email trinityrose@everyoneactive.com
28 October, 1 November	Soccer school including football skills, inflatable games and mini matches. For 6-12 year olds	Ipswich Town Foundation	Stowupland High School Sports Centre, Church Road, Stowmarket IP14 4BQ	Visit Ipswich Town Foundation's website Phone 01473 400980 Email community@itfc.co.uk
28, 30, 31 October	Dance, football and 'Nerf style' camps. For 4-11 year olds (depending on activity)	Maxim Sports	Great Cornard Leisure Centre, Head Lane, Great Cornard CO10 0JU	Visit Maxim Sports Coaching's website Email info@maximsportscoaching.co.uk Phone 07973950276
29, 30 October	Dance, football and 'Nerf style' camps. For 4-11 year olds (depending on activity)	Maxim Sports	Wells Hall Primary School, Wells Hall Road, Great Cornard, Sudbury, CO10 0NH	Visit Maxim Sports Coaching's website Email info@maximsportscoaching.co.uk Phone 07973950276
28 October – 1 November	Multi-activity holiday camp including sports, arts and crafts, nature, team games. For 5-11 year olds	TayPlay Sports	Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre, Gainsborough Road, Stowmarket IP14 1LH	Visit TayPlay Sports's website Email info@tayplayactivitycamps.co.uk Phone 07546116004
28 October – 1 November	Holiday club involving football, multi-sports, arts and crafts, mini chefs, dodgeball. For 5-12 year olds	Anglia Sports Management	Brantham Leisure Centre, Brantham CO11 1RZ	Visit Anglia Sports Management's website Email info@angliasportsmanagement.com Phone 01206 392506
1 November	Woodland activity day including archery, air rifles, catapults, campfire cooking and bushcraft skills. For 8-15 year olds	Queech Wood	Queech Woodland Activities, Barham IP6 0QF	Visit Queech Woods' website Email info@queechwood.co.uk Phone 07941009256
31 October	Family park cooking involving family activities, an outdoor cooking class, and a food box for a family of four. With recipes from a local chef. For 5+ years	Abbeycroft	Hadleigh Sea Scout Hut IP7 5NE	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
30 October	Adventure days introducing alternative physical activity through outdoor activities. For 8-12 year olds	Abbeycroft	1st Combs Scout Group, Combs Wood Drive, Stowmarket IP14 2RJ	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
31 October	Adventure days introducing alternative physical activity through outdoor activities. For 8-12 year olds	Abbeycroft	3^rd Sudbury Scout Hut, 6 Quay Lane, Sudbury, CO10 2AN	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
29, 31 October	Youth Centre activities including pool table, table football, video & board games, garden, music, dancing & chat	Eden’s Project	Sudbury Youth Centre, 45 Gainsborough Street, Sudbury, CO10 2EU	Visit Eden Project's website Email info@edensproject.co.uk Phone 01787 375247

Become a provider

We have been allocated £134,892.59 for the 2023-2024 Holiday Activities and Food Programme.

There are 2,349 means tested free school meal children in the district (March 2022 statistics).

How can I become a provider?

If you are interested in providing activities for us, then you will need to apply for funding by completing an online application.

If you are a new provider, please complete both Form A and Form B
If you have previously completed Form A within the last financial year - and have been approved - please complete Form B

Please see the deadlines for each application period:

Easter – application deadline 10 February
Summer – application deadline 9 June
Christmas – application deadline 20 October

If you have any questions about the application process, please email HAFenquiries@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk

What are the requirements?

The requirements follow the Department for Education’s minimum standards, which include:

A school standard meal (ideally a hot meal)
Four hours of activities
One hour of physical activity
Some form of nutritional education
Providing signposting to families onto further services, if needed

Where can I learn more?

The Department for Education have published information about the HAF programme.

Suffolk InfoLink provide county HAF information
Search for a local food business
Planning and providing healthy food with School food standards
The government have published physical activity guidelines

How we use your information

We will use the information you provide only for the purpose of this grant funds application. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws. Please read our privacy policy for more information.