Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF)

During the Winter School Holiday 2025, eligible children across Havering were given the opportunity to access up to 16 hours of fully funded, engaging activities through the Havering Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme. This year’s Winter programme supported over 2,080 children, offering a wide range of festive, fun, and enriching experiences, alongside nutritious meals provided at no cost to families.

With 13 dedicated HAF providers delivering 17 camp-style programmes across the borough, children were able to explore more than 10 different one‑off seasonal activities. These included:

• Trampoline park sessions
• Ice skating trips
• Festive arts and crafts
• Theatre visits and performance workshops
• Sports and multi‑activity sessions
• Youth workshops
• Football tournaments delivered in partnership with Havering MET Police and the West Ham United Foundation
• Christmas Land Lights and Grotto
• And much more

Feedback from participating families was overwhelmingly positive, with 100% of respondents reporting that their children enjoyed the HAF activities. Every respondent also shared that they would join again and recommend the programme to others.

The HAF programme is designed to support low‑income and vulnerable families during school holidays, a period that can be both financially and emotionally challenging. Parents and carers shared that the Winter programme not only eased the financial pressure of the holiday season but also provided valuable opportunities for their children to enjoy a healthy meal, stay active, socialise, learn about healthy lifestyles, and take part in seasonal experiences they might not otherwise access.

A big thank you to all Havering HAF Winter Programme providers, Havering schools, internal council services, and everyone who helped deliver and support this year’s programme. Your continued dedication is what makes the Havering HAF Programme such a success.

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, Local Authorities (LAs) have discretion to use up to 15% of their funding to enhance existing support that families currently receive, by enabling LAs to extend the HAF programme to provide subsidised or funded holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related FSM, but who the local authority believe could benefit from HAF provision. Please review the Havering HAF Referral Policy for the new 15% vulnerable family referral criteria and referral process. The referral policy is in the download section of the main page 

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 Winter school holidays.  Where eligible children will be able to access up to 4 sessions (during the Easter and Winter holidays) and 16 sessions (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 'our booking' page 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.

We want every child to feel welcome, included, and supported when taking part in Havering’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme. Many of our HAF providers have experience working with children and young people with a wide range of special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Support available

When browsing activities on our booking system, each HAF provider will clearly indicate the type of SEND support they can offer. This information is designed to help you choose the most suitable sessions for your child.

Talking to providers about your child’s needs

We encourage parents and carers to contact providers directly before booking. This allows you to discuss your child’s individual needs, share any relevant information, and ensure the programme can offer the right level of support for them.Providers are always happy to talk through:

• Your child’s routine, triggers or preferences
• Medical or personal care requirements
• Strategies that help your child feel comfortable and included
• Any reasonable adjustments that may be needed

The more information you can share, the better we can tailor support to help your child take part safely and confidently.SEND Family Sessions

We also offer SEND‑specific family sessions, designed to provide a calmer, more supported environment for children who may benefit from attending alongside their parent or carer. These activities are inclusive, accessible, and delivered with additional consideration for sensory and communication needs.

For those who do not met the HAF funding criteria, good news, some of our HAF providers offer private paying places. Please contact them directly for more information. Furthermore, please find below other support services available in Havering.

•         Looked after children may be able to access some support and/or activities in the holidays. For more information, visit

https://www.havering.gov.uk/integrated-adolescent-safeguarding-support-service-iass/havering-virtual-school

•         Young Carers access some support and/or activities in the holidays. https://www.havering.gov.uk/adult-social-care/carer-support-1/5

•         Children with SEND/EHCP may be able to access the Short Breaks offer. For more information visit https://familyserviceshub.havering.gov.uk/kb5/havering/directory/advice.page?id=dF7u_rhqI0Q

•         Local Offer https://familyserviceshub.havering.gov.uk/kb5/havering/directory/localoffer.page?localofferchannel=0

•         Parents / carers interested in holiday club or leisure activities can visit Havering’s Sports Development webpage www.Haveringactive.co.uk

•         Children’s Centres activities  https://www.havering.gov.uk/childrens-centres

•         Havering library activities https://libraries.havering.gov.uk/bookshelf

Each LA receives an allocation from the DfE for the HAF programme to support their residents to participate in the activities within their local authority. If you are not a Havering resident, please contact your local authority HAF team. Please find below details of our neighbouring boroughs HAF programmes:

•         Barking and Dagenham HAF

https://www.lbbd.gov.uk/children-young-people-and-families/events-and-activities-children/free-holiday-activities

•         Essex HAF

https://www.activeesseximpact.org/strengthening-communities/essex-activate

•         Redbridge HAF https://find.redbridge.gov.uk/kb5/redbridge/fsd/family.page?familychannel=1_1_13

•         Thurrock HAF

https://www.thurrock.gov.uk/holiday-activities-and-food/supporting-children-at-holiday-times