Since 2021, Milton Keynes City Council has provided around 650,000 hours of free activities and more than 162,000 meals during the school holidays for children and young people who would usually receive free school meals, helping families to make ends meet.
Today the city council confirms this extra help will continue as it will receive national funding from the Holiday Activities and Food programme (known as HAF) until March 2026. This will enable the city council to run its much-valued programme during school holidays for the next year.
The city council works with providers across Milton Keynes to deliver a huge range of free indoor and outside activities including theatre and zoo trips, arts and crafts, film-making and multi-sports camps. Most of these activities take place within 4-hour sessions and include a healthy meal.
Many sessions offer dedicated support for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Last year, around 35% of the children who attended these local events had additional needs.
The next activities will take place over 4 days from 7 April. Eligible families (those receiving benefit-related free school meals) will receive an e-voucher in the spring which they can exchange for up to 4 days of activities and food through a simple online booking system.
To learn more about the programme and the upcoming support available to families in Milton Keynes, please visit: www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/HAF
For organisations including schools, clubs and charities, interested in working with the city council to deliver future events, please contact HAF@milton-keynes.gov.uk
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