Free activities during summer holidays for families who need support

07 Jul 2025

West Suffolk Council’s programme of free activities over the school summer holidays for children from families in need of support, has opened for bookings.

The national Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is primarily aimed at children under 16s who receive benefits related free school meals. The Government funded scheme was set up to help support them during the school holidays when they may not otherwise get a hot meal.

The HAF programme is coordinated locally by West Suffolk Council on behalf of Suffolk County Council. Once again West Suffolk is using some of the funding, as allowed, to make free discretionary places available to the children of other families in need of support who would otherwise be ineligible for HAF. These discretionary places are limited and will be decided by Suffolk County Council on a first come first served basis.

The summer programme in West Suffolk includes swimming, various sports, arts and crafts, film making, theatre trips, horse riding, roller skating, outdoor cooking, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and more.

West Suffolk Council is working with 26 partner organisations to offer a total of 4,508 places across 392 sessions during the school summer holidays. If transport is an issue, Suffolk County Council may be able to help - families are asked to contact HAFenquiries@suffolk.gov.uk  

Cllr Donna Higgins, West Suffolk Council’s Cabinet Member for Families and Communities said: “Delivering the Government’s HAF scheme is just one of the ways West Suffolk is working to help people who are in poverty.”

“Through the Building Resilience and Nutrition Fund we are supporting food initiatives including those working to help lift people out of food poverty.”

“Through Thriving Communities funding, we are backing community, charity and voluntary sector partners in work to helping people improve their finances, cutting bills, negotiating on debts, and ensuring they are receiving all the money to which they are entitled.

“Through our grant agreement with Citizen’s Advice West Suffolk, we are working together to support people who struggling with money, heating costs, poor quality housing, health and more.

“Through our council tax relief scheme, we have once again extended help to some of the lowest income households in West Suffolk.

“And through our work through our new West Suffolk Local Plan and with developers and housing providers, we are delivering more homes including for affordable and social rent, so that more people can better afford a decent and secure place to live and to reduce the pressures around homelessness that West Suffolk has seen.”

Families with children on benefits related free school meals should have already received information through their school about HAF in their area. Booking is through an online platform called Eequ which details all the HAF activities across Suffolk. Schools have also been given information to help any parents who cannot access online to book.

Any families in West Suffolk who are ineligible for HAF but who need support, will need prior approval before they apply through the Eequ link otherwise their application may be rejected.  

To apply they will need to contact the activity provider for each of the activities that they are interested in to ask about applying for a discretionary place or places. The activities and activity providers’ contact details can be seen on the Eequ link and the council’s #westsuffolksummerhaf25 posts on Facebook and Instagram.

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