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
23 Dec, 2 Jan & 3 Jan	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
23 Dec, 2 Jan & 3 Jan	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
23 Dec & 2 Jan	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
23 Dec, 2 Jan & 3 Jan	Multi-activity courses including a range of sports, activities, arts and crafts. For 5-12 year olds	Premier Education	Debenham Sports & Leisure Centre, Gracechurch Street, Debenham, IP14 6BL	Visit Premier Education's website Email info@premier-education.com Phone 01953 499040
23 Dec – 3 Jan	Family swim session, Playworld and Roller Discos. 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
3 Jan	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
23, 24, 30 & 31 Dec, 2 & 3 Jan	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
21 & 22 Dec	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	Stevenson Centre, Stevenson Approach, Great Cornard, CO10 0WD	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
21 & 22 Dec	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	1^st Combs Scout Hut, Combs Wood Drive, Stowmarket, IP14 2RJ	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
21 & 23 Dec	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
21 & 23 Dec	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
21 Dec – 5 Jan	Swimming Family Offer & Teen Offer	Abbeycroft	Hadleigh Pool & Leisure Centre, Hadleigh, IP7 5BH	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
21 Dec – 5 Jan	Swimming Family Offer & Teen Offer	Abbeycroft	Kingfisher Leisure Centre, Sudbury, CO10 2SU	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	Kingfisher Leisure Centre, Sudbury, CO10 2SU	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	Hadleigh Pool & Leisure Centre, Hadleigh, IP7 5BH	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	Glemsford Village Hall, Tye Green, Glemsford, CO10 7RH	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	Sports Pavilion, Bridge Street, Lavenham, CO10 9SH	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	Red Gables, Ipswich Road, Stowmarket, IP14 1BE	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	Woolpit Village Hall, Mill Lane, Woolpit, IP30 9QX	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	The Bank, 2 Castle Street, Eye, IP23 7AN	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	Needham Market Community Centre, School Street, Needham Market, IP6 8BB	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
22 Dec	Food and activity boxes for Christmas Dinner and Boxing Day lunch. For families of four	Abbeycroft	Debenham Sports & Leisure Centre, Gracechurch Street, Debenham, IP14 6BL	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495

Become a provider

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

There are 2,220 means tested free school meal children (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.