Annual report 2024 to 2025
1. Introduction
This report provides details of the East Sussex Holiday Activities and Food Programme during the 2024 to 2025 financial year. The programme is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) as part of their national Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.
The report includes a breakdown of the programme expenditure, and the number of young people reached in the eligible groups.
Our 88 partner organisations, listed in Appendix 1, have worked hard to deliver a rich mix of activities. Thanks to the skills development we provide for those that deliver the HAF programme, we believe they are now better able to meet the needs of vulnerable children and to be more inclusive. Families have told us this in their feedback. Our HAF providers are key partners that can support children and young people from Level 2 to Level 4 need in our broader Children’s Transformation Programme.
Some of the coastal areas of East Sussex have some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country. Data mapping helped us to identify areas that were most in need of HAF support and achieve an appropriate geographical spread.
This was established in 2021 and consists of staff from East Sussex County Council (ESCC) teams as well as external members including those listed below.
ESCC Teams represented:
· Early Years
· Early Help
· Joint Commissioning
· Funding and Partnerships
· Data Management
· School admissions and transport
· Alternative Provision
· External Funding
· Marketing and communications
External organisations represented:
· Active Sussex
· Education Futures Trust
2. Overview and key data
Since 2021, the Holiday Food and Fun programme has provided holiday club places to children in receipt of benefits-related free school meals (FSM). The DfE allow local authorities to use up to 15% of the funding to support other groups of children who may benefit from these activities. In East Sussex we provide places for various identified groups including:
- those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
- Looked After Children
- those on Child Protection plans
- Children in Need
- Young Carers
- those receiving support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
- refugee groups
Spending breakdown
Maximum HAF funding available to East Sussex County Council: £1,673,200.00
- Provision of face-to-face activities (including SEND support): £1,501,235.81
- Administrative costs: £167,320.00
Total spend: £1,668,555.81
| Easter | Summer | Winter | February DfE pilot (SEND project) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions funded | 8,646 | 23,617 | 5,629 | 370 |
| Sessions attended | 7,601 (88%) | 21,181 (90%) | 4,106 (73%) | 258 (70%) |
| Providers | 75 | 87 | 52 | 7 |
| SEND providers | 14 | 20 | 12 | 7 |
| Locations | 108 | 144 | 74 | 7 |
| Expenditure | £359,956.66 | £902.892.89 | £215,386.74 | £22,999.52 |
Annual summary
Totals for the 2024 to 2025 financial year:
- Sessions funded: 38,262
- Sessions attended: 33,146 (87%)
- Number of providers: 88
- Specialist SEND providers: 20
- Activity costs: £1,501,235.81
Engagement with the programme
Number of unique children who participated in our HAF programme for each holiday period
Easter 2024
- 1,631 primary-aged
- 870 secondary-aged
- Total = 2,501
- Of the above, 38% had SEND (551 primary-aged and 405 secondary-aged)
Summer 2024
- 3,149 primary-aged
- 1,624 secondary-aged
- Total = 4,773
- Of the above 38% had SEND (1,180 primary-aged and 657 secondary-aged)
Winter 2024
- 1,019 primary-aged
- 682 secondary-aged
- Total = 1,701
- Of the above 37% had SEND (372 primary-aged and 250 secondary-aged)
February 2025 (SEND pilot)
- 94 primary-aged
- 47 secondary-aged
- Total = 141
- Of the above 99% had SEND
The charts below show the distribution of primary and secondary aged children engaging with the programme.
Voices of young people and families
We gather feedback to inform developments for future delivery.
Impact of the programme
The positive impact on families was clear from the feedback received. Examples of this are below.
I could never afford these clubs, and I can honestly say they are life changing. It may sound dramatic, but they get to try new things, make friends, be stimulated, develop new skills. We would be so lost in the holidays without them
Parent - Bowles Rocks
Our local holiday club is an absolute lifesaver, providing us with a local service which is safe, educational, fun for children and childcare that incorporates the outdoors and activities suitably sourced to engage young children and give them a sense of adventuring.... it's superb and have not had such a service on our doorstep before.
Parent - Education Futures Trust
There was an evident impact on the mental health and wellbeing of attendees. 81% of parents agreed that their child’s wellbeing had improved. 84% of attendees said they were proud of something they did at the club.
My son was extremely anxious about attending the catering sessions as he is Chinese and struggles with anxiety, meeting new people and being left alone without me. Nicola made Ol feel very welcome before the session began by showing him around, introducing him to other staff and young people and then engaging him with simple questions like what's your favourite food etc.... He came out smiling, it made me trust with pride as I haven't seen Ol like this for a very long time. He is even looking forwarding to going to secondary school now as he will be able to do Food Technology there. It's wonderful to have my confident, happy and outgoing son back again. Thank you HAF.
Fresh Visions
My son is so much happier after a few days with Red Butler.
Parent - Red Butler Music School
I loved the whole time. I had fruit and healthy foods. I got to do arts and graffiti and karaoke on the last day. I feel my friendships have got stronger.
Young person - East Sussex Youth Service
Being able to do something I love without the fear of being judged by the people around me.
Audio Active – Young person’s response to ‘What were the best bits about the club?’
We also noted a wider positive impact on the mental health of parents and families, not just the young people who attended sessions.
Amazing, I wouldn't have coped without it. It’s given me the time to unwind and deal with my health a bit better, given my daughter her own space to express herself.
Feedback from a parent - The Art House
A life saver for us. Our son loved this. He had a great time and made new friends. It also meant we had some respite from caring for him which helped our relationship with him.
SportsCool
The activities are well received by families. 95% of attendees said they enjoyed going to a HAF club and would like to attend again. 96% said they felt safe at the club.
95% of parents felt that there was a good range of activities on offer through the HAF programme.
This activity was absolutely outstanding; my children thoroughly loved this and would both love to come again. Great food provided and the children had the best time ever. Lovely staff too!
The Ordinary Climbers
Such a range of healthy and cultural fun activities on offer with breaks outside and creative thinking outside the box today! A wonderful holiday club that teaches language and culture through food, cooking and crafty fun!
All Abroad! Bus
We continued to notice a high SEND demand for HAF places. So, it was reassuring that 95% of parents felt their child’s needs were effectively supported by HAF providers. This was true across both SEND-specific and mainstream provision. 1-1 support was funded if required and available within universal clubs.
Defiant Sports staff are very accommodating, and it is great to have a holiday club specifically aimed at children with special needs. Their new premises means they can offer even more activities and opportunities to enjoy their large outdoor space. Having a single entrance which can be secured is also important for keeping children safe. They have a timetable which is visible to the attendees which helps them know what to expect, that helps reduce anxiety for some kids with special needs.
All the staff were amazing, and I felt my child was fully supported. She came home excited and full of enthusiasm.
Buzz Active
Excellent support for children with additional needs. Upon seeing that M had an EHCP, (the staff member) immediately arranged for additional support for M. M loved her coaches especially H and this is the first time she has been to a club by herself and most importantly wanted to return and do it again.
SportsCool
4. Food
The HAF programme gives children and young people the chance to share a nutritious meal with peers and adults. This often initiates conversations about healthy eating and nutrition.
Children get involved in preparing food and are encouraged to try new things. Allergies, dietary and cultural requirements are all catered for.
The food was amazing and I had lots of fun preparing it. Thank you so much.
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service
My daughter has had the confidence to try new foods that she otherwise would not try.
Yoga, art and food camp
The food provision was excellent.
Parent - Heart of Sidley
5. Enriching activities
We worked with established providers as well as new ones to ensure a varied and exciting offer for participants. Young people had the opportunity to continue developing skills they had already learnt or to try and learn something new.
6. Physical activities
As in previous years, all our clubs included an element of physical activity. Some clubs are sports based and surpass the minimum requirement of 60 minutes moderate activity. Others have developed imaginative ways to incorporate movement through games, nature walks, beach trips and more.
I had great fun and liked it when my team really encouraged me to keep going.
Young person at Bowles Rocks Trust
7. Special education needs and disabilities (SEND)
Developing provision for eligible young people with additional needs remained a focus. Places are needed both within mainstream delivery and SEND-specific provision. In summer 2024 we increased the number of SEND-specific providers by over 60% compared to summer 2023 (18 up from 11). This included provision in some of our Special Schools.
SEND specialist provision
The Department for Education selected ESCC to take part in a pilot programme during the February half-term holiday. They allocated a specific budget to this pilot which we used to deliver a small programme for children and young people with SEND. Seven of our regular SEND specialist providers were able to offer places targeted at FSM recipients with additional needs.
What a perfect place for my daughter to attend. I feel very confident that the staff will take care of her and her needs. She always comes out so happy “mummy when can I go there again”. The organiser is very good at communicating to parents and the environment is brilliant. Thank you
Sensory Soft Play, Hastings
Amazing club for my 2 autistic/ ADHD children they love it there!
Hive Holiday Club
My son settled in really well to the new venue and has enjoyed the large outdoor space now available. As usual the team are really accommodating of different needs and provide well organised group sporting activities as well as having other activities and facilities available for those who don't want to join the group activities. It's amazing what they have achieved in the short time they have had this venue! They are still working on things and I notice something different each time I arrive!
Defiant Sports, Eastbourne
8. Key challenges and learning
The programme continues to thrive. Feedback from participants and their families remains at the core of development for HAF in East Sussex.
East Sussex HAF continues to aim to provide and encourage improvements in inclusive provision. We had an increased number of SEND specific places available at some of our special schools. We also wanted to increase the confidence and skills amongst our ‘universal’ providers to support attendees with SEND. The ESCC Children’s Services Inclusion and CLASS (Communication, learning and Autism Support) services delivered training to HAF providers on:
- De-escalation strategies
- Making sense of neurodiversity
Another challenge over the 2024/25 year was the winter school holidays occurring later than in previous years. This provided fewer opportunities for activity days. Some clubs ran at weekends and bank holidays to minimise the impact of this.
9. Marketing and communication
Booking platform
Awareness of the HAF programme has grown year on year but we still work to increase the reach of the programme. We continued to use Eequ as the booking platform for our programme. There have been continuous developments of the platform in response to feedback. The booking process is now familiar to families and enables them to see all available provision on our East Sussex HAF organisation page. We shared the link to this page in a promotional email to previous bookers ahead of the booking launch for each holiday period. We also sent promotional emails to all East Sussex schools to share with eligible families.
Social media
Our Information for Families team regularly posted about available provision from the booking launch date onwards. Our booking platform, Eequ, enabled us to identify clubs which still had places available as the holiday period approached. Then we requested extra promotion for these clubs on our corporate social media platforms to maximise uptake.
10. Appendix 1 - Partner organisations
With thanks to:
Our activity and food providers
1066 Kids Club
A&I Media
Active Hastings
Active Primary Sports
Active Stars
All Abroad Bus
Art House
Audio Active
Bexhill Museum and De La Warr Pavilion
Bowles Rocks Trust
Box HIIT Amateur Boxing Club CIC
Bright Foundation
Brighton Watersports
Butterfly Nursery
C.A.T.S Club
CommunityFishing4FUN
Create Music (Brighton Dome Ltd)
Creation Station
Culture Shift
Defiant Sports
East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service
East Sussex School of Circus Arts
Education Futures Trust
Educraft
ESCC - Buzz Active
ESCC - Children in care council
ESCC - Children's Disability Service
ESCC - Placement Support (Fostering)
ESCC - Youth Service
ESCC - Youth Vocals
Fame Academy
Fireflies
Fitness Rave
Freedom Leisure Hailsham
Fresh Visions
Futsal Stars Foundation
Glottenham Farm Forest School
Glyne Gap School
Grove Park School
Grovelands Community Primary School
Hastings & Rother YMCA
Hastings Community Hive
Hastings Kickboxing Academy
Hastings Thrives
Heart of Sidley Community Association
IN2PLAY CIC
InSinc Wellness t/a Wivelsfield Holiday Camp
Jewel Performing Arts
Jumping Beans
Jumping Juniors
Little Gate Farm
Little Sewing School
Lymley Wood CIC
Make Good Trouble
N.I.P.P.E.R.S.
Naturebytes CIC
Ordinary Climbers Ltd
Palma PT
Pauline Quirke Academy
Press Play Films and Eat Fresh Feel Good
Priory School
Project Rewild
Red Butler Music School Limited
Saxon Mount School
SB Sports Coaching Ltd (Premier Education)
Sussex Contemporary Illustrators & Printmakers (SCIP)
Sensory Soft Play
Skiltek
Soul Voices Choir
South Brockwells Farm School
South East Stars Cheerleading
Southfield Trust - Hazel Court school
Southfield Trust - Lindfield School
Southfield Trust - South Downs School
Southfield Trust - Summerdown School
Sport Welcome
Sportitude
SportsCool Brighton
St Leonards Juniors FC
Sussex Community Development Association
Sweet Circus
Towner Eastbourne
Train The Way You Play Soccer School
Trees Community Association Ltd
Tydol Healthcare
Up-grade Training and Therapy ltd
Wave Active
Wellbody Wellmind Wellbeing CIO
Wild and Green
Supporting organisations donating to HAF clubs
Hastings Literacy Trust
Morrisons
Sainsburys
Tesco
Waitrose