Holiday activities and food programme 2026

School holiday help for Northamptonshire families

About the Programme

HAF helps ensure that children have access to healthy food and enriching activities throughout the school holidays. To take part in the programme, your family must be receiving benefits-related free school meals and be aged between 5 to 16 years old.

When & why did HAF start?

On 8 November 2020, the government announced that the holiday activities and food programme will be expanded across the whole of England in 2021. The programme has provided healthy food and enriching activities to disadvantaged children since 2018.

School holidays can be particular pressure points for some families because of increased costs (such as food and childcare) and reduced incomes. For some children that can lead to a holiday experience gap.

Free holiday clubs are a response to this issue and evidence suggests that they can have a positive impact on children and young people and that they work best when they:

Provide consistent and easily accessible enrichment activities
Cover more than just breakfast or lunch
Involve children (and parents) in food preparation

Keeping active during the various lockdowns has been especially hard for our younger people. As has, accessing healthy food and maintaining a balanced diet. That’s why we are particularly pleased to be supporting Public Health Northamptonshire and North and West Northamptonshire Councils with the delivery of the Holiday Activities and Food Programme across Northamptonshire.
Chris Holmes
(CEO, Northamptonshire Sport)