Fears for future of free school holiday classes

More than 14,000 children have taken 'Big Norfolk Holiday Fun' classes since 2022

There are fears for the future of a scheme that provides free school holiday activities and food to thousands of children in Norfolk.

The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme allows children to take part in classes including sport, drama and crafts, but government funding is due to end in March.

Eve Dewsnap, director of Active Norfolk, which oversees the project in the county, said its last planned programme would be at Christmas, unless more funding was forthcoming.

The Department for Education (DfE) said it recognised the scheme was “hugely valuable” but said a decision would not be made on funding until the Budget and Spending Review, due in October.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned the budget "is going to be painful" due to a hole in the nation's finances.

Active Norfolk said more than 14,000 children had used the programme since it began in 2022.

The government had pledged annual funding of £200m to local authorities in England for three years.

Aimed at low-income households, families whose children are eligible for free school meals have been able to claim spaces on classes during Easter, summer and Christmas school holidays.

Between £2m and £2.5m has been given each year to Norfolk County Council, which said it was providing 41,000 spaces for children this summer.

Dubbed ‘Big Norfolk Holiday Fun’ by the council, an important part of the project is that children also get lunch.

Schoolteacher-turned-sensei Joanne Minnis said the free school holiday classes were "really important" for children

Karate instructors at the ESKA Dojo in Norwich have been providing lessons under the scheme since last year.

Former teacher Joanne Minnis, a sensei at the dojo, said sometimes children had not eaten before arriving and the project was “incredibly important” for youngsters.

“It’s just a place where they can be themselves, where they can meet new friends and try out new skills," she said.

"Some of these children wouldn’t have the opportunity to try karate otherwise.

“It’s a space where they can thrive, no matter what their circumstances are."

Tina, a mum from Dereham, said her son and daughter had been to a lot of classes.

She said she was “really sad” that the programme’s future was in doubt as her children had got “a hell of a lot out of it”.

Foster carer Helen, who lives near Diss, said all the children she had looked after in recent years had been on classes paid for by the programme.

“Everybody is stretched financially and that gives children an opportunity which, if they weren't doing that, they wouldn’t be doing anything," she said.

Active Norfolk's Eve Dewsnap said about a quarter of children taking part in the free classes had special educational needs or disabilities

Ms Dewsnap said she remained hopeful of positive news from the government.

“We know that they’ve talked about the importance of tackling child poverty and we’ve got a huge amount of evidence of the positive benefits that this programme has had," she said.

“We very much hope it’s something that will continue.”

A DfE spokeswoman said it recognised the HAF programme was “hugely valuable".

“Funding commitments beyond next year will be set at Budget and Spending Review," she said.

"We will update on next steps in due course.”