Bridgwater and Taunton College Trust, an academy trust of 7 local schools, achieved great success for the children of Bridgwater during the Easter holidays with help from government funding.
The Holiday Activities and Food Programme (HAF) is funded by the Department for Education and Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership (SASP) coordinated the programme and also managed the grant making decision process. The aim of the fund was to make positive benefits through holiday clubs with a priority to those on benefits-related free school meals.
Photo submission: children at the Easter camp at Hamp Academy enjoying a game of dodgeball.
Staff within the Trust set up a whole two weeks of activity days for children aged 4-15 at both Hamp Academy and Bridgwater College Academy on Parkway along with a further camp in West Somerset over 4 days. The activity camps ran with over 100 children accessing them for free with various outdoor and indoor sports activities and every attendee was given lunch on the day. With the Trust moto of ‘Every Child Achieves’ it is certain that the children went away feeling they had achieved on many personal levels and have regained any lost confidence that being in lockdown may have affected.
Peter Elliot, Trust Leader and co-founder, said ‘it was brilliant for the children, that after weeks and weeks of winter lockdown, to get out in the fresh air and just be children. Our staff were outstanding at delivering fun days that kept the children active and ensuring that with the funding we could feed every child was a real bonus and we certainly hope to continue running these in the summer should funding be available.’