Easter Holiday Activities - HAF Programme

A free programme of activities to support children from struggling families during the school Easter holidays, has now opened for bookings in West Suffolk.

The national Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is primarily aimed at children under 18s who receive benefits related free school meals. The Government funded scheme was set up to help support them during the school holidays when they may not otherwise get a hot meal.

With the school Easter holidays looming, West Suffolk which coordinates the HAF programme locally on behalf of Suffolk County Council, is using some of the funding, as allowed, to make free places available to the children of other families who are in financial hardship. The Easter's HAF programme in West Suffolk includes football, swimming, horse riding, roller skating, arts and crafts, film making, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities, family park cooking and more.

In total, the West Suffolk programme will cater for 1973 places across 157 sessions delivered by 20 partner organisations. If transport is an issue, Suffolk County Council may be able to help, and families can contact HAFenquiries@suffolk.gov.uk

Families with children on benefits related free school meals should have already received information through their school about HAF in their area and can book their places now. Booking is through an online platform called Eequ at Search learning experiences · Eequ which details all the provisions across the county. Schools are also being given information to help any parents who cannot access online to book. Families in financial hardship should contact the activity provider in the first instance to find out how to apply for a place or places. If they go straight onto the Eequ link without this prior approval, their application may be rejected.

You can also find out more about the various activities on offer across West Suffolk at https://www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/leisure/holiday-events.cfm or through the council's #HAF posts on Facebook and Instagram.