The Government has recently announced that the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme will be expanded across the whole of England in 2021.
Funds have been made available to every local authority in England to coordinate free holiday provision, including healthy food and enriching activities. The programme will cover the Easter, summer and Christmas holidays in 2021.
East Sussex County Council is now inviting Expressions of Interest from potential providers of holiday activities and/or food for the Easter and Summer/Christmas holidays 2021.
Easter holiday provision
To submit proposals for this Easter holiday (2-16 April 2021), providers will need to complete the Easter EOI form by 5 March 2021 at 12:00 noon.
This is a new programme for the county and due to the short timescales, East Sussex County Council is prioritising provision in some areas of high need at Easter, but providers are still welcomed to submit proposals for all other areas of the county.
The Council is particularly interested in HAF proposals at Easter for the following priority areas: Bexhill, Eastbourne, Hailsham, Hastings, Newhaven and Peacehaven.
Summer and Christmas holiday provision
To submit proposals for the Summer and/or Christmas holiday, providers will need to complete a Summer/Christmas EOI form by 23 April 2021 at 12:00 noon.
The Council is looking to widen provision across the county for the summer and Christmas holidays.
Please note – 2 separate online forms will need to be submitted by providers if they would like to make proposals for both the Easter and summer/Christmas holidays.
Providers can submit any questions or queries to HAF@eastsussex.gov.uk. An FAQ document will follow, as well as invitations to market information days and support sessions to discuss proposals.
East Sussex County Council is looking forward to receiving expressions of interest from across the county.