Pilot Summer Holiday Activity and Food Programme

From summer 2020 vouchers for Shoprite/Coop have been given to families with children who are in receipt of free school meals through holiday periods on the Isle of Man. In addition to financial pressures to provide basic provisions for those at home, it is acknowledged that through the school holidays some families, in particular those on low-income, may be:

• Less likely to access organised out of school activities
• More likely to experience ‘unhealthy holidays’ in terms of nutrition and physical health
• More likely to experience social isolation
  
  

As a result of this pilot summer programme we want children who attend this provision to:

• Eat healthily during the summer holidays
• Be active during the summer holidays
• Take part in enriching activities that support resilience, character and wellbeing
• Be safe and not socially isolated
• Have a greater knowledge of wellbeing, health and nutrition
• Be more engaged with local services
  
  

Best Practice of similar programmes in England suggests children should be offered a minimum of:

• 4 weeks of face to face provision
• 4 days of the week
• For at least 4 hours of each of those days
• At least one meal per day that meets nutritional guidance (school food standards)

As a pilot scheme, we want providers to let us know what they can offer, even if it doesn’t meet these best practice guidelines fully.

Who can apply? (Providers)

We welcome all groups to apply, from community groups, family groups, faith groups, schools, sports clubs, uniformed organisations as well as existing holiday and sport club providers who wish to extend their offer.

Please note - bids can be from individual organisations who can provide a complete provision, from consortium style bids who can provide a complete provision (with a named lead organisation) or from organisations who may be able to offer an ‘element’ of provision (I.e. food or activities) or may only be able to provide a limited number of days/weeks.

NB: Please be aware that all provision will need a minimum of 3 members of staff/volunteers on site for safeguarding and security reasons.

An enrichment activity is an experience where children can extend their learning to improve or enhance skills, knowledge, and well-being. These activities can include academics, sports, arts, crafts, computer skills, mindfulness; and more, and are offered with the goal of providing entertainment and enjoyment, while sharpening and building on individual’s skill sets.

You will need to fill in an application form and send it in to us at HAFenquiries@gov.im.  Application forms have full guidance notes to let you know how we are marking the applications against specific criteria.  Although there are best practice guidelines, we recognise that some of these may be hard for some organisations to meet, for example the suggested set times for a programme.  Let us know what you can provide within your organisation, and which areas of the best practice are met.

All groups applying to act as a provider must be able to demonstrate that they have appropriate policies and procedures in place for:

• Safeguarding, including the recruitment of staff and volunteers
• Health and safety
• Food business registration (for food providers)
• Relevant insurance policies
• Accessibility and inclusiveness

Application forms can be requested by emailing HAFenquiries@gov.im  or calling +44 1624 642639 and must be returned by 26 June 2022.

There is full guidance available with the application form, but in short, any food or drink that is provided should be in line with the School Food Standards to ensure that it is nutritious and healthy, and that food allergies are recognised and catered for. These can be hot or cold food, but should remain within the basic principles of the standards.

The meal provided can be breakfast, lunch or dinner – so as not to exclude morning or evening activity groups.

This School Food Standards guidance suggests meals should include:

• plenty of fruit and vegetables
• plenty of unrefined starchy foods
• some meat, fish, eggs, beans and other non-dairy sources of protein
• some milk and dairy foods
• a small amount of food and drink high in fat, sugar and salt

The best practice standards that need to be considered are that children attending will be able to:

• Eat more healthily
• Be more active
• Take part in engaging and enriching activities
• Be safe and not isolated
• Have greater knowledge of health and nutrition

Through providing opportunities to engage in the following

• Physical/Wellbeing activities
• Nutritional Education
• Nutritious meal
  
  

All groups applying to act as a provider must be able to demonstrate that they have appropriate policies and procedures in place for:

• Safeguarding, including the recruitment of staff and volunteers
• Health and safety
• Food business registration (for food providers)
• Relevant insurance policies
• Accessibility and inclusiveness
  
  

Whilst the scheme is a community initiative and is not intended to be a replacement for childcare, potential providers should note that the Regulation of Care Act requires that any provider of childcare to those under the age of 8, for more than 2 hours daily, should be registered. More information on the Care Standards webpage. 

Data will be collected in order to assess if the aims and objectives of the pilot scheme are being met. Funding will be issued at 90% of the funding prior to the commencement of the programme, and 10% on receipt of the first weekly data sheet return.

Providers will be asked to collect the following information from all attendees which will include:

• Age
• Free School Meal Status
• Total of number of days attended (unique children)

This information will be passed weekly to the coordinating team to enable evaluation of the scheme to take place. There will be a registration template to complete which will be sent out when funding is granted. On receipt of the first weekly data return, the final 10% of funding will be released.

A 'unique' child, for data collection purposes, means the same child is identified to have repeatedly accessed the sessions. This is to enable us to better evaluate the pilot, rather than collecting only total number of attendees to each session per day.