Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme 2026-2029

Cheshire East Council is seeking to commission a number of providers to deliver face to face school holiday activities for young people in Cheshire East. The holiday activities and food (HAF) programme is a 'Department for Education' (DfE) initiative enabling local authorities to coordinate a programme that provides school age young people between the ages of 4 - 16, and up to age 18 for eligible SEND young people, with healthy food and enriching activities during the summer and winter holidays.

These school holiday activities provide young people with:

• positive and safe things to do and places to go
• the opportunity to spend time with friends, to develop personally and socially, and reduce isolation
• the chance to undertake new activities and have new experiences

Cheshire East Council is flexible in its approach to service delivery, always seeking solutions that will offer quality outcomes and value for money and working with delivery partners who share our values and commitment to the success of this area of support. Cheshire East Council's Corporate Plan sets out clear priorities, and all providers will be required to contribute towards the corporate objectives and improve outcomes for the residents of Cheshire East.

Tenders will be accepted under two LOTS -

• LOT 1 is for providers who are offering general HAF provision.
• LOT 2 is restricted to applications for specialist provision e.g., SEND, Teenagers.

LOT 2 provides access to higher individual session costings to reflect the additional costing/provision that may be needed to support these groups of young people.

Providers who are providing inclusive SEND provision within their wider offer (incurring no additional costs), please select LOT 1.

For LOT 1 and LOT 2 provisions providers are expected to deliver the entirety of their programme in line with grant conditions. This includes exciting, enriching and physical activities for young people, which are expected to be face-to-face. Provisions need to be inclusive and meet additional needs where appropriate within the scope of their funding/expertise. Providers are also expected to provide nutritional education and food education in addition to supporting families with appropriate sign posting to other services and or making referrals where appropriate.

October and February half term provision:

Although the Department for Education has confirmed grant funding for the period April 2026 to March 2029, the associated grant conditions have not yet been received. Grant conditions may potentially allow, subject to funding availability and DfE approval, the delivery of a small-scale programme during the October and February half-term holidays. If approval for these periods is received, we would allow providers to offer programmes up to 10% of their total offer for each additional holiday.