Fun, Healthy Holidays for Children this Easter
23 May 2023
This Easter, 2,831 children took part in fun, healthy activities thanks to Healthy Holidays. During the school holidays, 47 projects ran across the city, providing fun activities and nutritious food for local children.
Healthy Holidays has been supporting the social, emotional and physical wellbeing of children and their families, by addressing food insecurity and hunger, isolation and inactivity, since 2018. Initially delivered with local funding partnerships, more recently the programme has been run as part of the Department for Education’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme with Leeds City Council.
With over a third of children in Leeds living in poverty* and the rising cost of living causing more strain on families’ budgets, programmes like this are vital. Not only do projects provide children with nutritious food and physical activity, they also support families to gain the skills and confidence to make affordable, healthy meals at home and give children opportunities to take part in things they might not otherwise get to do.
A huge range of activities were provided over the Easter holidays. Children got active with dance, swimming, rounders, boxing and adventure play. They expressed their creativity by decorating Easter eggs, learning how to drum, making jewellery and designing t-shirts. They got to know more about nutrition and where food comes from through planting and growing, and even took part in Ready, Steady, Cook!
At one organisation, Health for All, children took part in an Eid celebration party where they made decorations to take home, an Easter Egg hunt around Middleton woods, a sing-along and music-making session and a cinema trip, among other things.
As well as fun and engaging activities, Healthy Holidays also supports families who are struggling with very basic needs. Health for All said “We had a call from a very distressed mum with four children, two with complex needs. Mum was really struggling to feed the children. She visited Middleton Family Centre to get a food parcel and sign up to join the food pantry. The family stayed for the Healthy Holidays Arts and Crafts session. All the children joined in and enjoyed a hot meal. Mum was totally overwhelmed and said she felt embarrassed that she was struggling with money as she works, but her benefits had been stopped through an error on the benefit agency’s part. Other parents were very supportive which helped mum feel less embarrassed and understand that many families are experiencing real financial difficulties. We talked about the importance of not feeling isolated and joining in with all we have going on at all our centres. The family were invited to attend the rest of the sessions throughout the Easter break. They attended three more sessions and now come to the pantry on a regular basis which gives mum the chance to get any other support she requires.”
With such brilliant outcomes already achieved over Easter, we’re excited to see what Healthy Holidays can do during summer and Christmas!