Content Reposted From Birmingham Mail Article.
Birmingham children are to be offered free food and activities during the 2019 summer holidays.
Happy Healthy Holidays has secured £2 million funding from the Department for Education in a bid to help 18,000 children over the summer.
The pilot programme is the largest of its kind and is being led by Accord Housing Association together with Birmingham Playcare Network, the Active Wellbeing Society, and Sport Birmingham.
Caroline Wolhuter, Head of Innovation and Impact at Accord, said: “We are delighted that Happy Healthy Holidays will be co-ordinating the roll out of this scheme in Birmingham.
She added: “Helping children to access great activities and tasty meals during the school holidays is something that all members of the Happy Healthy Holidays consortium feel very passionately about.
“During the 2019 summer holidays we will be working with local schools, children’s centres and community groups to support children’s physical and mental wellbeing; helping them to thrive and enjoy, what we hope will be our sunniest months.”
Happy Healthy Holidays aims to increase and improve the quality of school holiday provision, and to help families that find the summer particularly challenging in terms of being able to access affordable nutritious healthy food and fun physical activities.
As part of the programme, a new community funding and training support scheme has been launched to encourage organisations to provide good quality holiday activities which include hands-on cooking opportunities and healthy meals for children and young people.
David Cusack, Chief Executive at the St. Paul’s Trust, added: “St. Paul’s is proud to be involved in the Happy Healthy Holidays programme that will work with families in Balsall Heath and surrounding areas to ensure children have a well-balanced nutritious diet and stimulating activities during the summer holiday programme. We will be working with families to ensure the impact of the programme has a lasting positive effect on the health of families in the area.”
—
- Full Birmingham Mail article available here: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/birmingham-schools-give-out-free-16257033
- Sport Birmingham HHH Website: https://www.sportbirmingham.org/HHH