A £900,000 fund is now open for Calderdale organisations to hold activity sessions to help children eat healthily and be more active during school holidays.

Local groups can apply for a share of the ‘Healthy Holidays Calderdale Programme’ grant from Calderdale Council and the Community Foundation for Calderdale, to help reduce inequalities by tackling child hunger and family poverty.

This builds on the success of previous rounds of Healthy Holidays grants. Funded by the Government’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme, these have enabled dozens of Calderdale venues to provide enriching activities for thousands of youngsters, many of whom receive free school meals during term time. The HAF Programme aims to bridge the holiday experience gap by providing free holiday clubs for school-aged children from reception to year 11 who receive benefits-related free school meals.

Grant applications were previously for one school holiday at a time, but now organisations only need to apply once to get support for activities during the Easter, summer and Christmas school holidays in 2022. Applicants could include childminders, wraparound care providers, activity groups, schools and voluntary and community sector organisations. To find out more and apply, visit https://cffc.co.uk/healthy-holidays-calderdale-2022/ The deadline for applications is 5pm on Monday 28 February 2022.

In previous Healthy Holidays schemes, young people have benefited from activities such as team sports, yoga, canoeing, crafts, music and exploring nature. They receive a tasty, nutritious meal at each session and learn about food through fun activities such as cooking and gardening.

During the December 2021 school holidays, children in Calderdale had so much fun doing new activities that they hadn’t had the opportunity to try before, that the scheme caught the attention of the Department for Education and featured in its national HAF Programme video.

Please click here to apply: Apply to Healthy Holidays Calderdale.

Online applications and supporting documents can be submitted up until 5pm on Monday 28 February 2022.

For advice on applications, please email rachelb@cffc.co.uk or call 01422 349700.

For more information about Healthy Holidays, visit www.calderdale.gov.uk/v2/residents/community-and-living/healthy-holidays-calderdale

Watch the Healthy Holidays video to see the impact of previous schemes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkqIx_-uVpc