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19 July–1 August 2016 Children&Young PeopleNow 3130 Children&Young PeopleNow 19 July–1 August 2016
Project
HolidayKitchen
purpose
Toimprovethewellbeingoflow-income
andvulnerablefamilies
funding
Around£4,000pereight-dayprogramme,
£50perfamilyperday,fundedby
ChildreninNeed,PublicHealthEngland,
FamilyAction,AccordGroup’sown
investmentandotherdonations
background
Holiday Kitchen addresses issues
including food poverty, financial
stress, isolation, inactivity and loss
of learning experienced by low-
income and vulnerable families
during school holidays, particularly
the long summer break, when free
meals and support from schools
are no longer available.
It was sparked by a 2012
community consultation in a
deprived east Birmingham
neighbourhood, conducted by
Ashram Housing Association –
now Ashrammoseley – part of the
Accord Group. Food poverty and a
lack of summer activities topped
the needs identified. So with the
help of a Children in Need grant,
the organisation ran a holiday
activity programme in summer
2013, providing food for almost
500 children.
Accord developed the
programme with Family Action
and last summer, Holiday Kitchen
was delivered at 23 locations in the
West Midlands, Greater
Manchester and Lincolnshire,
benefiting more than 200 families.
action
Organisations that want to deliver
the programme, such as children’s
centres, housing associations,
refuges and community centres,
Focusonfoodimproveshealthof families
physical activities; “make and
taste”, which involves cooking and
exploring new foods; a storybook-
based drama and dress-up session,
and a “money fun” session, with
advice on money management and
budget shopping. The last session
is a celebration, with music and
dance. “Parents or carers are
expected to be involved in the
activities, supporting and spending
time with their children,” explains
Wolhuter.
outcome
May 2016 Birmingham City
University-led evaluation reports
from 12 Holiday Kitchen
programmes in Greater
Manchester and eight in the West
Midlands last summer, indicate
improvements in families’
nutrition, relationships, emotional
wellbeing and the quality of their
time together, as well as an
expansion of their knowledge and
interests and a reduction in
financial stress.
Before the programme, 15 out of
45 – 33 per cent – West Midland
families described their food as
nutritionally “good” to “excellent”.
This increased to 29 families – 64
per cent – after the programme. Of
these 45, 16 – 36 per cent – said
they were “confident” or “extremely
confident” in undertaking family
activities with their children before
the programme, nearly doubling to
31 families – 69 per cent – after.
Of 91 Greater Manchester
parents, 81 per cent said their
children learned “quite a lot” or “a
great deal” of new things from the
programme and 75 per cent said
their children felt “quite a lot” or “a
great deal” better about themselves.
If you think your project is worthy of
inclusion, email supporting data to
derren.hayes@markallengroup.com
send staff to a training day run by
Accord.
The programme is designed for
the families of pre-school and
primary-aged children. Children’s
services, schools and others are
invited to refer families who could
benefit most. Some centres
advertise the programme through
their own networks and families
can refer themselves.
Accord recommends the eight-
day programme runs from the first
week of August and is spread over
the month, with two half-day
sessions each week. “This means if
something goes wrong at home,
they are only a few days away from
the next session,” explains Caroline
Wolhuter, head of social inclusion
at Ashrammoseley, who has led the
programme since its inception.
Around 10 parents or carers and
20 children take part in each
programme, arriving for breakfast
from 9.30am. After around two
hours of activities, they take part in
a community lunch, which they
often help prepare. Food is
contributed by organisations
including charitable food
distributor FareShare and families
sometimes take food home.
The eight days consist of a forest
school session; a “field to fork”
session, in which participants learn
about growing vegetables; a “park
challenge” day, with sports and
CASE STUDY 1 | Midlands and north of England | Social care
Programme works to improve the wellbeing of parents and young children through the summer holidays by providing food and support
Children and families learn about good nutrition by preparing community lunches at Holiday Kitchen sessions over the summer
Project
Choice(ChildrenhaveOptions,
Imagination,Challenge,Experience)
purpose
Toimproveschoolattendanceand
attainmentamongeight-to11-year-
oldsandreducetheirlikelihoodof
becomingNeet(notineducation,
employmentortraining)
funding
£35,000thisacademicyear,fundedby
WakefieldCouncil,Pontefract
AcademiesTrust,Pontefract
EducationTrust,Wakefieldand
DistrictHousing,Casey’sConstruction
andWestYorkshirePolice
background
Choice is the brainchild of its
manager Annette Jones, who in
2011 was welfare manager at
Carleton Community High
School in Pontefract. She realised
pupils needed intervention
during primary school, when
they are “more receptive to advice
and guidance and keener to build
relationships with police and
other professionals”. So Jones
devised a pilot for 10 children at
De Lacy Primary in Pontefract.
This year Choice will be delivered
to 99 pupils in 11 Wakefield
primaries.
action
Choice is run by schools
partnership Pontefract
Academies Trust. Heads of
participating schools identify
pupils in years four, five and six,
who Jones says “need something
to give them a bit more drive”.
She meets each child’s parents or
carers to assess their needs,
signposting them to support
agencies where necessary. She
supports them throughout the
programme with “surgeries” for
issues such as debt or housing.
The 30-week programme
starts in the autumn, running
weekly in the last hour of school,
or throughout the afternoon for
out-of-school activities. It
includes three six-week courses:
a police-run Explorer course
where participants learn the
consequences of criminal
behaviour through visits to court
and custody; a Young Fire­
fighters course where firefighters
drill participants in practical
skills leading to a military-style
“passing out” parade; while a
third course sees an alternative
therapist teach how to deal with
anger and stress.
The remaining 12 weeks
include sessions from Barnardo’s
on child sexual exploitation; from
British Transport Police on
railway safety; from school
nurses on healthy eating and
dental hygiene; and from Keep
Britain Tidy on protecting the
environment. In addition,
housing association WDH talk to
pupils about the consequences of
antisocial behaviour.
outcome
Of 36 pupils referred to Choice
last year, 65 per cent improved
school attendance, 80 per cent
progressed in reading, 90 per
cent in writing and 83 per cent
in maths.
Choiceseesprimarypupilsshine
CASE STUDY 2 | Yorkshire | Education
The majority of pupils referred to Choice improved their school attendance, plus their reading, writing and maths
Source: Evaluation led by Birmingham City University
IMPACTONFAMILYLIFE
Results for Holiday Kitchen families in the West Midlands
Before After Before After
Food nutritionally good/excellent Confident doing activities with children
33% 36%
64%
69%