Vulnerable children in Sheffield will continue to receive support in the school holidays after Sheffield City Council approved £2m plans to extend its Holiday Activities with Food programme (HAF).

The Council’s Director of Public Health Integrated Commissioning, Greg Fell announced the plan to extend the scheme until March next year yesterday.

HAF is a council-run programme that offers free holiday club sessions to children from reception to year 11 – funded by the Department of Education.

A report published on Sheffield City Council’s website said: “Our model is ensuring fun through diverse activities that cater to all children and families, including physical, creative, indoor/outdoor, and trips.”

The approval allows for the delivery of holiday activities with food during the Easter, Summer, October and Christmas school holiday periods from 2025 to 2026.

It means a further £2,689,530 of council funding will continue to go towards supporting the children of the 26,000 families who receive free school meals.

A proportion of the funding will be used to finance delivery partners including: schools, partners and organisations that will provide a vast range of cultural and sporting activities across Sheffield.

Some of the organisations supported include: SOAR, Saalik Youth Project, Darnall and Tinsley, Sheffield Wednesday Football Club Community Foundation, Sharrow Community Forum and ZEST. These will help children from a number of schools that have been divided up into seven sections.

The report said: “This decision will ensure the continued delivery of the Holiday Activities with Food Programme which provides holiday activities with food to some of the most vulnerable children in Sheffield.

“This programme contributes to the overall ambitions of the council to improve health and wellbeing and tackle inequality.”