Free holiday activities to help children and young people this summer

Free summer holiday clubs are to be held for children and young people across Bury in August.

Bury Council is working with a range of local organisations to put on activities that will be fun, challenging and exciting, while also providing parents with vital childcare.

The Bury Holiday Activities and Food programme is being put on for children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals.

The sessions will run for four hours a days, four days a week, between August 2 and August 27 and each session will include a free healthy meal.

The schemes are funded by the Government through its £220m Holiday Activities and Food programme.

This is aimed at enabling children and young people to enjoy fun activities with friends and to learn and develop new skills.

In Bury activities already lined up include:

• experiencing the great outdoors
• nature and conservation
• enterprise skills
• horse riding
• team work and confidence building
• arts and crafts
• football, physical activities and games
• martial arts
• swimming

More activities will added in the coming weeks and booking for the sessions is expected to open at the beginning of July.

Parents and carers whose children are eligible for benefits-related free school meals will be contacted directly by the council and their schools with a programme of activities to choose from.

Councillor Tamoor Tariq, Bury Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for children, young people and skills, said: “The long summer holiday is a fantastic opportunity for children and young people to try something new and exciting, while making friends and having fun.

“This year we are able to use government funding to give children who might otherwise not get the chance to have a fantastic summer.

“They will also get a free healthy meal as part of the activity, thereby providing further help to families over the holiday period.”

Bury has around 6,000 children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. Research has shown that children whose families are on lower incomes often do not have the opportunity to try new activities during the school holidays and that their families may find it hard to replace the free meal they would get in school during term time.

The Government’s £220m Holiday Activities and Food programme has been expanded this year. This will help provide summer activities and a meal, targeted at children who also often experienced the most disruption over the past year to their learning and their normal social or club activities.

ENDS

Press release issued: 25 June 2021.