Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF)

Eligible Havering HAF children had the opportunity to access of up to 16 hours of funded fun activities to enjoy this Christmas School Holiday 2023. The Havering HAF Christmas programme saw over 1570 eligible HAF children enjoy up to 16 hours each of funded fun activities and nutritious food on offer across the borough. With 15 Havering HAF Providers delivering 22 camp style programmes and 7 different individual activities including trampoline parks, ice skating, theatre shows, arts, sports, cooking and so much more. Children were able to enjoy all on offer across the borough. Completed feedback from families show 100%  enjoyed the HAF activities and 100% would join us again and recommend to a friend. 

The HAF programme is to help low income and vulnerable families during what is an expensive and difficult time to access healthy activities (during the school holidays). Feedback from the Christmas HAF Programme show families felt the programme benefited them not only financially with costs, but with opportunity for their child to be involved in healthy activity and take part in activities they would of not been able to do so otherwise. 

THANK YOU to all the Havering HAF Christmas Programme Providers, to all Havering schools and internal services and to those who participated in the programme for your continued support with the Havering HAF Programme.

Research has shown that the school holidays can be pressure points for some families. For some children this can lead to a holiday experience gap, with children from low-income households being:

• less likely to access organised out-of-school activities
• more likely to experience ‘unhealthy holidays’ in terms of nutrition and physical health
• more likely to experience social isolation

Our HAF programme is a response to this issue, with evidence showing that funded holiday clubs can have a positive impact on children and young people.

The programme is designed to support families on a lower income and are in receipt of benefit related Free School Meals, or children who are considered to be vulnerable.  The provision is for school aged children from reception to year 11 who live in Havering.

Children who attend a HAF session will have access to a full range of activities and they will receive a healthy nutritious meal.

As a result of this programme, we want children who attend Holiday provision to:

• Eat more healthily over the school holidays.
• Be active during the school holidays.
• Take part in engaging and enriching activities which support the development of resilience, character, and wellbeing along with their wider educational attainment.
• Be safe and not to be socially isolated.
• Have a greater knowledge of health and nutrition.
• Be more engaged with school and other local services.

We also want to ensure that the families who participate in this programme:

• Develop their understanding of nutrition and food budgeting.
• Are signposted towards other information and support, for example, health, employment, and education.

In addition to children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals, consideration will also be given to those children who are considered to be vulnerable, or would benefit particularly, by individual school and services referral only. For example:

• Looked after children.
• Has an EHC plan (Education Health and Care plan) and are register with Havering Short Breaks
• Young Carers

We work closely with our local schools and services to ensure all eligible children can benefit from this fantastic opportunity. HAF programmes are delivered during the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays.  Where eligible children will be able to access up to 16 hours (during the Easter and Christmas holidays) and 64 hours (during the Summer holiday) of funded fun activities and receive a nutritious healthy meal. Information of our Havering HAF programmes and activities where HAF funded places are available will be provided on this webpage once the programme has launched.

To have access to the funded sessions you MUST be eligible for BENEFIT RELATED Free School Meals (BRFSM) and have made an application through Havering, regardless of your child's age as not all children in KS1 are eligible even though they receive a meal at school usually. The link to Free School Meals application is on this page Free School Meals Criteria and Application Link

Families being referred for funded places who are not eligible for Benefit Related Free School Meals will need to be registered to the Havering HAF Team to receive a unique voucher code to access bookings via their referrer (school or other services) within the deadlines set. This allocation is restricted and referrals will need to be made for each programme (voucher codes are unique for each programme delivery).

Those in receipt of BRFSM can book directly on to the programme via the HAF Providers where their eligibility will be checked and confirmed to the provider to provide a funded place. Those who are referred will need to complete the referral process and receive their unique voucher code before accessing bookings (no valid voucher code, no booking).

The HAF provider information, contact and booking details is provided in the session information EBook provided on this page per programme launch.

If you would like to find out more, or, if you are a provider and are interested in being part of the delivery of Havering HAF programmes please email HAF@Havering.gov.uk

 *If you are unable to attend your booked HAF session, please inform the provider so they are able to offer the funded place to another child who would greatly benefit from this opportunity. If no contact is made they will assume you no longer want the place and will offer it out to another child.

In response to feedback we have streamlined the booking process for the families of children with additional needs to make it clear what support is available at each programme. With this in mind we have identified 4 key categories to clearly show the level of care that each HAF Provider can provide. These range from Level 1 (mild-moderate needs, fairly independent), through to Level 4 (more severe needs, dedicated support needed). Please check the 4 levels below for the most suitable support for the child you are wishing to book on to the programme. If a provision has identified an additional need is required then the level of support can be higher than the stated level. We are working with Short Breaks to support for one to one / SEND provision for our programmes to help providers. Please ensure you are registered with Havering Short Breaks and speak with the providers directly at least 2 weeks before the programme delivery regarding the support required or if you have a carer / guardian who will be present with your child during the programme.

We have scored each provider with a number which tells you what type of support they are able to offer your child, please choose a provider who can offer what your child needs.

Level 1

This club will be suitable for Children who have mild to moderate needs, who are able to go to the toilet and eat their lunch with correct supervision but do not need direct support in doing so. This level is suitable for children who do not present risky behaviours such as being of harm to themselves or to others.

Level 2

This club will be suitable for Children who have mild to moderate needs, and those who will need direct support with personal care and will need one to one support with eating their lunch. This level is suitable for children who do not present risky behaviours such as being of harm to themselves or to others.

Level 3

This club will be suitable for Children who have moderate to severe needs, and those who will need direct support with personal care and will need one to one support with eating their lunch.

OR

This club is suitable for children who are known to demonstrate risky behaviours such as being of harm to themselves or to others.

Level 4

This club will be suitable for Children who have moderate to severe needs, and those who will need direct support with personal care and will need one to one support with eating their lunch. These children may also be known to demonstrate risky behaviours such as being of harm to themselves or to others

For more information or to register with Havering Short Breaks please visit https://familyserviceshub.havering.gov.uk/kb5/havering/directory/advice.page?id=dF7u_rhqI0Q