The Corporate Director for Children and Young People, Laura Eden, approved the award of contracts for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) Summer 2025. This decision will provide over 38,000 places for children and young people during the summer holidays, offering nutritious meals and enriching activities.

Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) Summer 2025

Laura Eden, Corporate Director for Children and Young People, approved the award of contracts totalling £956,951.20 for the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) Summer 2025. This funding will enable 20 lead delivery organisations to provide 38,415 places for children and young people across Newham. The programme aims to combat holiday hunger by offering free places at holiday clubs during the summer school break. These clubs will provide at least one nutritious meal daily, alongside a range of physical and enriching activities.

The HAF programme is funded by a grant from the Department for Education (DfE), with Newham provisionally allocated £2,049,110 for Easter, Summer, and Christmas 2025. The Summer programme received a significant portion of this funding, £950,000, with an additional £6,951.20 allocated due to an underspend from the Easter provision.

The mini-competition for the Summer programme was divided into three lots: universal provision for primary school-aged children, universal provision for secondary school-aged children, and specialist provision for children with significant or complex special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). All providers were required to meet minimum criteria, including accommodating children with low-level SEND needs and offering between 10 and 20 days of provision. Bidders were evaluated on quality (50%), price (40%), social value (5%), and sustainability (5%).

The decision aligns with the Council's agenda to build a fairer Newham and support children and young people in achieving their potential. It also forms part of the Council's Young People and Food Security Strategy, addressing food insecurity and holiday hunger. Alternative options considered and rejected included doing nothing, which would have resulted in a failure to meet DfE grant requirements and potential repayment of funding, and agreeing funding for local authority-maintained schools only, which saw no interest and would also not meet the grant's objectives.

The contracts awarded are in accordance with the Council's Contract Standing Orders and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The decision is also made in discharge of the Council's statutory duty under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006 to secure sufficient childcare. An Equalities Impact Assessment has been conducted, recognising that the programme supports vulnerable children and young people, with clear links to class, race, and disability.

The successful providers and their awarded funding for the Summer 2025 programme are detailed in Appendix 1 of the Public reports pack [https://mgov.newham.gov.uk/documents/g15139/Public%20reports%20pack%2024th-Jun-2025%20Officer%20Key%20Decision.pdf?T=10]. This includes organisations such as Ackeee Tree, Aston Mansfield, Bonny Downs Community Association, Elite Pathways Sport & Fitness, Empower Youth, Hope 2 Humanity, Kulan Somali Organisation, Newham Sports Club CIC, Omega Sportz, Social Organisation for Unity and Leisure (SOUL), Sphere Support, The 5es, Wright Education, UK Islamic Mission, West Ham United Foundation, West Silvertown Community Foundation, and Wonder Years for primary school provision. For secondary school provision, Ackeee Tree, Aston Mansfield, Bonny Downs Community Association, Hope 2 Humanity, Kulan Somali Organisation, Newham Sports Club CIC, Rights & Equalities In Newham, The 5es, Social Organisation for Unity and Leisure (SOUL), and West Silvertown Community Foundation were awarded contracts. Specialist provision for children with SEND will be delivered by Ambition Aspire Achieve (ARC and Abbey Hub), Social Organisation for Unity and Leisure (SOUL), and West Silvertown Community Foundation.