The Offer and Ask… Application Process and forms listed below.
The Government has allocated £1,200,000 to be spent in Dudley per year until 2025 on activities and refreshments for income eligible, free school meals pupils for the following weeks, 1 week at Easter, 4 weeks in the summer and 1 week at Christmas.
In Dudley borough we have over 11,500 Free School Meal pupils, we aim to reach a minimum of 40% of these pupils. Activities must be for school age pupils (Reception to Year 11)
We are keen to work in partnership with our local schools, businesses and the community and voluntary sector to offer a varied and wide range of activities. We are seeking expressions of interest from providers who would like to run a holiday club or activities over the 2023 school holidays as listed above.
In Dudley we are using an online application for all organisations to share their planned activity, funding needs to deliver the programme, and to identify any support they made need from the team.
We need your applications back no later than Monday 15th May 2023 detailing the activities that you wish to deliver in Summer 2023. Organisations and businesses can apply just to deliver the enrichment element of the programme, or the food element.
Dates for delivery are as follows:
25th July 2023 – 3rd September 2023
Remember to complete and submit both the webform and the timetable with as much detail as you can provide. Late or incomplete applications will not be presented to the funding panel for consideration and will not be funded.
HAF Provider Application Form – HAF (holidayactivitiesindudley.com)
Bids can be a collaboration of partners with specific expertise and knowledge. We can help develop relationships between organisations that can provide activities and those that can provide meals and food support.
We are keen to include Young People throughout the process and want you, where possible, to include them in the planning and delivery.
Equality, diversity, and inclusion – Providers will be asked to consider and identify how they propose to meet the needs of diverse groups i.e. food provision which cater for religious beliefs, activities which are gender-aware and inclusive for children with additional needs or disabilities.
Programme requirements – We are interested in proposals from providers who can deliver:
- Enriching activities: clubs must provide fun and enriching activities that provide children with opportunities to develop new skills or knowledge, to consolidate existing skills and knowledge, or to try out new experiences. This could include physical activities such as football, table tennis, cricket; creative activities such as putting on a play, junk modelling, drumming workshops; or experiences such as a nature walk, visiting a city farm etc.
- Food: clubs must provide at least one meal a day (breakfast, lunch or tea) and all food provided at the club (including snacks) must meet school food standards. The expectation is that the majority of food served by providers will be hot, however, we acknowledge that there will be occasions when this is not possible and that a cold alternative should be used. All food provided as part of the programme must comply with regulations on food preparation and take into account allergies and dietary requirements and preferences as well as any religious or cultural requirements for food.
- Physical activities: clubs must provide activities which meet the Physical Activity Guidelines on a daily basis.
- Nutritional education: clubs must include an element of nutritional education each day aimed at improving the knowledge and awareness of healthy eating for children. These do not need to be formal learning activities and could for example include activities such as getting children involved in food preparation and cooking, growing fruit and vegetables, and taste tests.
- Signposting and referrals: clubs must be able to provide information, signposting or referrals to other services and support that would benefit the children who attend their provision and their families.
- Policies and procedures: clubs must be able to demonstrate and explain their safeguarding arrangements and have relevant and appropriate policies and procedures in place in relation to: i. Safeguarding, ii. Health and Safety, iii. Insurance, iv. Accessibility and inclusiveness, including addressing equality and diversity, v. Where appropriate, clubs must also be compliant with the Ofsted requirements for working with children.
Frequently Asked Questions
Would the children / young people be expected to come every day or just one day a week? Children have an allocation on the amount of activities that they can attend during the holidays. Each session counts as one, unless stated differently.
Is there any particular areas of Dudley that we are focusing on? We are particularly focusing on our secondary uptake and would welcome applications that improved engagement. We are also focusing on our SEND offer and increasing capacity.
What about non Free School Meal children, can they be included in the activity? This funding is only for Income Eligible Free School Meal pupils, activities can be opened up wider but non free school meal pupils would have to pay a contribution or additional funding would need to be found from elsewhere.
If I have a child with a sibling that are not in the age group that I can take, can I refer them to another provider that can take them? Yes, we are hoping to have a directory whereby we can share details of providers and signpost parents/families.
Is there a minimum or maximum number of children per day/venue/provider?
No, there is no minimum or maximum number of children per day for any venue or provider, however, we would require you to adhere to health and safety and Ofsted guideline’s whilst providing the fun activities.
Helpful Links
Visit the government website for more information on the national programme.
Holiday Activities and Food Programme FAQs A list of LA Frequently asked questions.
