Holiday Activities and Food Programme

Holiday activities for children

Children and young people across the district may be eligible for free school holiday club places and a meal.

The government’s Holiday Activities and Food Programme takes place during Easter, the summer holidays, and Christmas.

We have provided additional money so that there are further holiday activities during the February, May and October half terms.

The programme enables children and young people to enjoy fun activities with friends, and develop new skills.

Who is eligible?

The activities are for those who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals.

Other eligibility can include:

children assessed by the local authority as being in need, at risk or vulnerable
young carers
looked-after children or previously looked after children
children with an education, health and care (EHC) plan
children who have low attendance rates at school, or who are at risk of exclusion
children living in areas of high deprivation, or from low-income households, who are not in receipt of free school meals
children in transition phases between nursery and primary school or primary and secondary school

If a child is not eligible, most providers offer paid for spaces.

How can I book activities?

We use the online booking system Eequ. Guardians of eligible children can book spaces for HAF activities through our Eequ profile:

Book a holiday activity online

If you have any queries, please email HAFenquiries@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk.

Contact us

If you need any support, please contact our HAF Coordinator Rachel Cattermole on HAFenquiries@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk

Community Fun Days

BMSDC are excited to be partnering with Abbeycroft to provide 4 amazing family days from 10am-2pm at the following locations:

Monday 21^st July – Belle Vue Park, Sudbury
Thursday 24^th July – New Green Community Centre, Thurston
Friday 25^th July – Easthouse Meadow (Hadleigh Pool & Leisure), Hadleigh
Monday 28^th July – Stowmarket Recreation Ground

There will be a wide range of FREE activities for children of all ages. Come along and bring a picnic. There will be climbing, axe throwing, bouncy castles and lots more. If your children received Means Tested Free School Meals you can pre-book a FREE Packed Lunch as well as early bird spaces on our Climbing and Axe Throwing Activities. Spaces are limited and booked on a first come first served basis.

Find out more and book your spaces here

Timetable of activities

We update this webpage with information about holiday activities available for children, as and when they happen.

Book a holiday activity online

Activities available

Please note that the table below details activities taking place in the districts of both Babergh and Mid Suffolk.

Dates	Summary	Provider	Venue	Contact
27 – 31 Oct	Holiday club involving multi-sports, arts, and crafts. 9am – 5pm (early drop-off and late pick-up available)	Kicks and Tricks	Grace Cook Primary School, Stowmarket IP14 1XJ	Visit Kicks and Tricks’ website ⧉ Email info@kicksandtricks.co.uk Phone 01449 401630
27 – 31 Oct	Holiday club involving multi-sports, arts, and crafts. 9am – 5pm (early drop-off and late pick-up available)	Kicks and Tricks	Beaumont Primary School, Hadleigh IP7 6GD	Visit Kicks and Tricks’ website ⧉ Email info@kicksandtricks.co.uk Phone 01449 401630
27, 28 & 29 Oct	Multi-activity courses including a range of sports, activities, arts and crafts. For 5-12 year olds	Premier Education	St Peter's and St Pauls Primary School, Church Street, Eye, Suffolk IP23 7BD	Visit Premier Education's website Email info@premier-education.com Phone 01953 499040
30 & 31 Oct	Multi-activity courses including a range of sports, activities, arts and crafts. For 5-12 year olds	Premier Education	Debenham Sports & Leisure Centre, Gracechurch Street, Debenham, IP14 6BL	Visit Premier Education's website Email info@premier-education.com Phone 01953 499040
27 – 31 Oct	Family swim session, and Playworld. Gymnastics, Roller Disco and Junior Gym memberships	Everyone Active	Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre, Gainsborough Road, Stowmarket IP14 1LH	Visit Everyone Active's website Phone 01449 674980 Email trinityrose@everyoneactive.com
27 – 31 Oct	Holiday club involving football, multi-sports, arts and crafts, mini chefs, dodgeball. For 5-12 year olds	Anglia Sports Management	Brantham Leisure Centre, Brantham CO11 1RZ	Visit Anglia Sports Management's website Email info@angliasportsmanagement.com Phone 01206 392506
29 Oct	Adventure days introducing alternative physical activity through outdoor activities. For 8-12 year olds	Abbeycroft	Hadleigh Sea Scouts, Osborne Hall, Layham Road Sports Ground, Hadleigh, IP7 5NE	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
28 & 29 Oct	Family Park Cooking- outdoor activity, and an outdoor cooking lesson using recipes from a top local chef.	Abbeycroft	3^rd Sudbury Scout Hut, 6 Quay Lane, Sudbury, CO10 2AN	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
27 – 31 Oct	Swimming Family Offer & Teen Offer	Abbeycroft	Hadleigh Pool & Leisure Centre, Hadleigh, IP7 5BH	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
27 – 31 Oct	Swimming Family Offer & Teen Offer	Abbeycroft	Kingfisher Leisure Centre, Sudbury, CO10 2SU	Visit Abbeycroft's website Email HAF@acleisure.com Phone 01284 757495
27 – 31 Oct	Multi-activity holiday camp including sports, arts & crafts, nature, and team games.	TayPlay	Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre, Gainsborough Road, Stowmarket, IP14 1LH	Visit TayPlay's website Email info@tayplayactivitycamps.co.uk Phone 01284 757495
28 & 30 Oct	Youth Centre activities including, pool table, table football, video & board games, garden, music, dancing & chat	Eden’s Project	Sudbury Youth Centre, 45 Gainsborough Street, Sudbury, CO10 2EU	Visit Eden Project's website Email info@edensproject.co.uk Phone 01787 375247
28 – 30 Oct	Multi-sports, nerf, football, and dance camps	Maxim Sports	Cornard Leisure Centre, CO10 0JU	Visit Maxim Sport's website Email info@maximsportscoaching.co.uk Phone 07973 885971
27 – 31 Oct	Holiday camp including crafts, baking, sports, swimming, and inflatables	School’s Out Activities	Ipswich High School, Woolverstone, Ipswich, IP9 1AZ	Visit School’s Out Activities’ website Email info@schoolsoutactivities.co.uk Phone 07931 988478
27 Oct	Woodland based activity days, including traditional crafts, green wood work, bushcraft and archery	Queech Wood	Queech Wood, Hemingstone, Ipswich, IP6 0QF	Visit Queech Wood’s website Email neil@queechwood.co.uk Phone 07941 009256
27, 28, 29, 30 Oct	Mario Kart, Arts & Crafts, Football, multi sports and Nerf Camps, Inflatable Fun.	Prestige Sports Development	Tudor Primary School, Tudor Road, Sudbury, CO10 1NL	Visit Prestige’s website Email info@prestigesportsdevelopment.co.uk Phone 07494 002352
29 Oct	Theatre Workshop that involves singing, acting, dancing and arts and crafts inspired by a theme	Little Voices	Stowupland Village Hall, IP14 4BG	Visit Little Voice’s website Email evie@littlevoices.org.uk Phone 07362 429298
27 – 30 Oct	Holiday Club for 2-12 year olds, with games from tennis, badminton and swing ball to arts and crafts and treasure hunts	Sunflowers Childcare CIC	The Cabin, Stone Street Road, Boxford, CO10 5NP	Visit Sunflower Childcare’s website Email info@sunflowers-childcare.co.uk Phone 01787 211363

Become a provider

We were allocated £134,892.59 for the 2023-2024 Holiday Activities and Food Programme.

There are 2,220 means tested free school meal children (March 2022 statistics).

How can I become a provider?

If you are interested in providing activities for us, then you will need to apply for funding by completing an online application.

If you are a new provider, please complete both Form A and Form B
If you have previously completed Form A within the last financial year - and have been approved - please complete Form B

Please see the deadlines for each application period:

Easter – application deadline 10 February 2025
Summer – application deadline 9 June 2025
Christmas – application deadline 20 October 2025

If you have any questions about the application process, please email HAFenquiries@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk

What are the requirements?

The requirements follow the Department for Education’s minimum standards, which include:

A school standard meal (ideally a hot meal)
Four hours of activities
One hour of physical activity
Some form of nutritional education
Providing signposting to families onto further services, if needed

Where can I learn more?

The Department for Education have published information about the HAF programme.

Suffolk InfoLink provide county HAF information
Search for a local food business
Planning and providing healthy food with School food standards
The government have published physical activity guidelines

How we use your information

We will use the information you provide only for the purpose of this grant funds application. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws. Please read our privacy policy for more information.