The government has announced a three-year extension to the Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF), which increases access to healthy food and enriching activities for low-income activities during the Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays.
The school holidays are a well-known pinch point for families – in particular, those in receipt of free school meals (FSM), who have to find the means to supplement their child’s school lunch at the same time as managing the rising costs of essentials like food, energy and water. This gap in provision impacts almost 2.2 million pupils, which represents 25.7% of all pupils according to 2024/4 statistics.
Initially piloted in 2018, the HAF Programme was launched nationwide in 2021 and is now delivered in every local authority in England. In Liverpool, our HAF Programme is coordinated by Merseyside Play Action Council and Liverpool City Council – supporting over 130 fantastic providers across the city. Last year, 13,500 children and young people benefitted from taking part in the programme, with over 240,000 meals being provided and over 99,000 activity places offered that they would otherwise not have access to.
A nationwide evaluation of the HAF Programme has highlighted its value in improving children’s and young people’s diets, and expanding their access to enriching physical activities – whilst simultaneously helping to ease financial pressures and enhance the wellbeing of parents and carers. At a local level, we have anecdotal evidence of how the Programme has benefitted our communities.
Pressure has been building over the last few months for the Government to confirm the future of the Programme, with the funding originally set to end in March 2026; this has included a petition coordinated by our colleagues at Feeding Britain and a survey conducted by researchers in the North East representing over 17,000 parents voices.
Today’s announcement confirms that HAF will continue beyond April next year, supported by a £600 million funding boost over a three-year period.
Beth Bradshaw, Policy Lead at Feeding Liverpool, has responded to the news:
Families here in Liverpool, and right across the country, will breathe a sigh of relief today knowing that the HAF Programme is secure for another three years.
In our submission to the Health and Social Care Committee Inquiry on food and weight management, we asked government to urgently commit long-term funding and to extend support into the half-term holidays, so that children and families do not miss out at any point in the year.
Today’s announcement is really welcome news, and we want to thank all our partners and community voices who campaigned to make this happen.