Applications for this grant are now closed.
We recognise that school holidays can be a challenging time for some families, due to the increasing cost of living. A lack of access to organised out-of-school activities can lead to 'unhealthy holidays', where children have limited access to nutritious meals and engaging physical activities.
To help deal with this issue, we are offering funding for free holiday activity and food clubs taking place during the Easter, Summer and Christmas school holidays. We are looking to fund programmes that will provide accessible, healthy activities alongside education on nutrition.
Key information
- Funding is available for Easter, Summer and Christmas holiday periods, to support with the delivery of food activity projects for children and young people aged 5 to 16 years who are entitled to Benefit Related Free School Meals (FSM).
- Up to 15% of this funding can be used to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related free school meals but who are considered by the local authority to be in need of this provision.
- All applications must be submitted by Monday 4 December 2023 at 5pm. All required documentation (such as current PLI, DBS checks etc) must be up to date and uploaded onto the MCRactive Portal by this date.
- This fund is for voluntary and community sector organisations, including:
- youth and play organisations
- sports clubs
- schools and other educational establishments (such as SEND, PRUs and supplementary schools, and out of school provision)
- arts and culture organisations
- and outdoor adventure and education organisations.
- Organisations must be based in Manchester and/or be working with Manchester residents in their HAF provision.
- Funding is available for revenue spend – delivery and/or equipment.
- There is no limit on the amount of funding that can be applied for.
- We encourage partners and schools to work together to share delivery
- Minimum delivery timescales are 4 hours per day x 4 days per week each week of delivery.
- Each day there needs to be a minimum of 1 hour of physical activity within the programme.
- Applications will be assessed on quality and breadth of offer, value for money and location of participants (taking account of the statistical percentage numbers of local children entitled to benefits-related free school meals – see the table in the application prospectus).
- Applicants can apply for funding for multiple projects in different locations.
- We welcome applications from under-represented groups and for children and young people with protected characteristics.
If you would like to discuss an alternative delivery model or have any questions, please contact us at haf@mcractive.com
For more detailed guidance, download the application prospectus