A school holiday food and activity programme has received a £4,000 donation and 41 volunteer hours from Travis Perkins Managed Services (TPMS) staff to support the running of the programme.
49,714 (24%) of Birmingham children are eligible for free school meals (FSM), the largest FSM population in England and seven times greater than the average English Local Authority. Birmingham’s Happy Healthy Holidays 2019 was a much-needed community initiative that’s aim was to provide an accessible and inclusive summer holiday food and activities programme for the City’s FSM eligible children.
This free community programme was launched this summer by Accord Housing Association and Consortium partners Sport Birmingham, Birmingham Playcare Network and The Active Wellbeing Society. Happy Healthy Holidays took place during the summer holidays across 153 venues in Birmingham, with over 13,000 children accessing the programme.
Simon Gratton, Account Manager at TPMS said: “We were delighted to support Happy Healthy Holidays through our volunteering of five days to the Happy Healthy Holidays programme. It was so far from our usual day to day activity, and we were amazed at the scale of the operation across the whole of Birmingham. The tangible positives on the children who attended the sessions was clearly evident, and it was surprisingly rewarding to have played even a small part in the delivery of it.”
Sara Woodall, Executive Director of Homes and Communities at Accord added: “We are so grateful for this donation from our partners TPMS, as it means we can put it towards delivering further holiday provision going forward, building on the strong foundations we have put in place this year through training and community investment. Happy Healthy Holidays is a fantastic programme for families across Birmingham, particularly those who find summers challenging in terms of being able to access affordable healthy food and fun physical activities. Our holiday programmes also provide valued opportunities for young people to learn new things and make new friends.”