Oldham Council is looking for new providers to support children over winter holidays

The programme offers vital support to local families

Oldham Council is looking for new providers to take part in its Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme as it looks to support more children and young people in receipt of free school meals over the winter holidays.

The programme, funded by the Department for Education, offers vital support to local families during the off-school period by providing a range of free sessions and nourishing hot meals to those aged 5-16.

With many parents worrying about how they can afford to feed their families due to the increase in living costs, and others working additional hours to plug the gap, these sessions can be a lifeline to those needing extra support.

Children get an opportunity to enjoy a variety of engaging activities and meet new friends, as well as enjoying new foods and taking part in interactive sessions about healthy eating.

Councillor Eddie Moores, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "This programme has already made such a massive impact to the lives of our children and young people across the borough and we couldn’t have done this without the amazing help of local providers.

"Thousands of children took part in a whole host of fun and engaging activities over the summer and enjoyed a number of tasty meals and we are determined to continue this great work alongside our providers.”

Oldham supported more than 3,500 children during its summer HAF programme with over 3000 sessions taking place, including a range of sports and athletics, arts and crafts and even cooking classes.

"For families on low incomes, the school holidays can sadly be a time of increased financial pressures as parents worry about how they can afford to feed their children when they’re not in school," Cllr Moores added.

"We are eager to help anyone in this position and this programme is one of a number of ways in which we can – and what’s even better is our children and young people get a fantastic experience from it too!

"So, I want to put an urgent call out to anyone who can help us to provide new, active and nutritional sessions for the young people of Oldham because we would love to work with you.”

The council is particularly interested in providers that can offer four days of four-hour sessions but all applicants are welcome and the local authority is willing to offer further support to any provider who meets its due diligence requirements.

Providers can raise their expressions of interest by clicking or tapping here.

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