Thousands of children and young people across Staffordshire enjoyed a fun-filled Easter, thanks to Staffordshire County Council’s Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.
Funded by the Department for Education, the HAF programme supports children aged 5–16 who are eligible for benefit-related free school meals, offering enriching activities alongside healthy meals during the school holidays.
This Easter, the programme saw almost 10,000 bookings, with children and young people taking part in a wide range of activities. These included sport and physical activity, arts and crafts, animal therapy sessions, and skills-based courses such as health and beauty. These gave children the chance to try new things, build confidence and have fun with friends.
One of the newest additions to the programme this year was Diamond Families, a therapeutic farm and wellbeing centre that proved especially popular with younger children. The farm gives children the chance to interact with and feed animals including horses, alpacas, rabbits, goats, guinea pigs and chickens, as well as therapy dog Scruffy.
Sisters Everlyn, aged nine, and seven-year-old Molly attended Diamond Families’ animal therapy sessions twice in one week after falling in love with the guinea pigs.
Molly said:
“The guinea pigs are my favourite, they’re so small, soft and cuddly. The best thing is that you get to hold them and stroke all the animals. I get really excited about coming here and I can’t wait to see what I’m having for dinner, too!”
Janet Higgins, Cabinet Member for Education and SEND at Staffordshire County Council, said:
“It’s wonderful to see so many children, both new and returning, taking part in our HAF programme each year and creating happy memories during the school holidays.
“We’re always looking to grow and improve the programme so we can reach even more children. Diamond Families have been a fantastic addition this Easter and we’re really looking forward to welcoming them back as part of our summer HAF offer.”
For further information or to book a place on the HAF programme, visit the HAF webpage.
