The Holiday Activity & Food (HAF) Programme is back for the 2024 Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays.
HAF is backed by funding from The Department for Education to provide enriching activities to children and young people, particularly those who receive free school meals. The holiday clubs can involve helping young people experience new and enriching activities from sports, music, dance, and drama, to art, culture, cooking and gardening, as well as improving socialisation, helping children & young people to have fun with friends during the holidays.
Parents and carers across Suffolk may be eligible to receive benefit from free holiday club’s places for children and young people over the school holidays, through HAF. Look out for HAF codes that should be issued to eligible children through their school.
Who is eligible and what do I need to access the programme
Free School Meals is more than just a meal. If you are eligible, we would encourage you to make sure that you register for free school meals even if your child is in reception, year 1 or 2 and receives the universal meal offer, as it opens the following benefits:
- your child will receive a choice of meals at school free of charge
- Your child’s school will receive additional funding to provide support that pupils may need
- It enables you to access free school holidays activities at Easter, Summer and Christmas through The Suffolk Holiday Activity Programme
- It enables you to access and be notified of any other school holiday support from the government if funding is made available.
If you think that your child/children may be eligible for means tested free school meals you can check to see if you qualify and apply through Apply for free school meals
Schools (currently only primary schools) are asked to issue HAF codes to eligible children in order to access space on HAF activity. Please speak with your child/children’s school in the first instance about gaining a HAF code.