Hounslow Council is urging eligible families to register for the Holiday Activity and Food Programme (HAF) winter activities which will take place from 2 to 5 January 2024.
Published: Monday, 4th December 2023
Families with children living in the borough who are aged between 5 and 16 and entitled to benefit related free school meals, can attend Holiday Activity and Food Programme (HAF) activities for free. They can start receiving e-vouchers for registering HAF activities from schools from Monday, 4 December.
On Friday, 29 December, families eligible for HAF activities can enjoy the Dick Whittington Pantomime for free, funded by Hounslow Council, which will take place at The Arts Centre in Hounslow, TW3 1ES - families can join one of the two performances at 2.30pm or 6.30pm. An award-winning performance will feature Hounslow’s favourite Jonathan Ashby who will play the hero Dick.
Funded by Department for Education, HAF in winter will be delivered by experienced providers with fun and enriching activities featuring sports and games, cooking, computing coding, music, arts and crafts, taking place across the borough. Children and young people can take part in some special activities for the celebration of the festive season like Christmas Eve parties and games, snowflake art, making reindeer hot chocolate and much more. Eligible children can attend a four-hour activity session each day from 2 to 5 January and enjoy a free, hot meal every day.
Councillor Lily Bath, Cabinet Member for Education, Children, Skills and Employment, said:
HAF has been supporting families with the cost of living while offering opportunities to children and young people to develop their full potential through fun activities. I’m very pleased with the incredible feedback on HAF summer from parents and children. Parents saw their children get more active, have better mental health and eat more healthily over the holidays. Children can make new friends and socialise in a safe environment.
I encourage families in Hounslow who are receiving benefits, to register their children to receive free school meals. Only those children who have been registered with free school meals are eligible to join our HAF activities. Eligible families can submit the online application form for applying free school meals, which can be found on the Council’s website.
All the HAF activities and details of Dick Whittington Pantomime are available on Hounslow Family Service Directory HAF programme website.
