Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme Blackburn

The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme helps children and young people access healthy, nutritious food alongside fun, engaging and enriching activities during the school holidays.

The programme is designed to support families who may otherwise find it difficult to provide healthy meals for their children during the school holidays. HAF programmes bring together nutritious food, physical activities, enrichment opportunities and social experiences, helping children enjoy positive and rewarding experiences outside of term time.

HAF programmes are coordinated by your local authority. They work with schools, charities, community organisations, sports clubs and other approved providers to deliver holiday activities and meals to eligible children and young people within their local area.

For HAF providers, providing a suitable meal is an important part of delivering a successful programme.

HAF programmes can be delivered by a range of organisations, depending on the arrangements established by your local authority.

These could include:

• Schools and academies
• Holiday clubs
• Sports clubs and activity providers
• Community organisations
• Charities
• Youth organisations
• Community centres
• Other organisations working with local authorities or approved HAF partners

If you’re an external HAF provider delivering activities for children and young people, ICare Cuisine can manage the catering side of your HAF programme, supplying healthy and nutritious meals for the children attending your activities. By taking care of the food provision, we help you meet the requirements of the HAF programme while you concentrate on delivering enjoyable, engaging activities for children and young people.

To qualify for free school meals and by extension, the HAF Programme, families must meet specific income thresholds. This support is crucial for families who might otherwise struggle to provide for their children’s nutritional needs during the school holidays. Children in foster care or under the care of a local authority automatically qualify, recognising the unique challenges these children face.

Parents receiving certain benefits may also qualify for the programme, ensuring that support reaches those who need it most. During the application process, families typically need to verify their eligibility, which helps maintain the integrity and effectiveness of the programme.

By adhering to these criteria, the programme ensures that its resources are directed towards families who will benefit the most, thereby maximising its positive impact on the community.

Funding for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme is administered through local authorities, who work with schools, charities, community organisations and activity providers to deliver programmes within their local area.

If you are interested in delivering HAF activities, you can usually apply through your local council’s HAF programme or work alongside an approved HAF provider or partner to deliver activities and services to eligible children.

What does a HAF provider need to offer?

To participate in the HAF Programme, providers are generally expected to deliver a programme that includes:

• Fun, engaging and inclusive activities for eligible children during the school holidays.
• Opportunities that support learning, enrichment and physical activity.
• Healthy and nutritious meals that meet the relevant nutritional requirements.
• Activities or information that encourage children and families to develop healthy eating habits.

How ICare Cuisine can help

If you are responsible for delivering the activities but need support with providing nutritious meals, ICare Cuisine can help with the catering side of your HAF programme. We can provide reliable meal delivery for children attending your activities, allowing you to focus on running your programme while we take care of the food provision.

ICare Cuisine can work with external HAF providers across Blackburn to arrange meals that are delivered directly to your activity venue.

We can discuss your programme requirements, including:

• The dates your programme is running
• Number of children attending
• Number of meals required
• Delivery locations
• Preferred delivery times
• Menu requirements
• Dietary requirements
• Food allergies and intolerances
• Hot or chilled meal requirements

Our aim is to make arranging the food element of your HAF programme as straightforward as possible.

Our flexible ordering process is designed around the needs of schools and HAF providers.

Our Ordering Process
We make ordering simple and easy to do by phone or online, and we’ve got a wide range of meals to choose from. You just pick the delivery dates and times that suit your programme and we’ll take care of the rest.

• Choose from a wide range of hot meals, sandwiches and balanced lunches
• Order by phone or online
• Select your delivery dates and quantities
• Let us know about any dietary requirements or special meal requests
• We’ll even help with menu planning to make sure the meals are suitable for all ages

Whether you need a one-off delivery or ongoing support throughout the holidays, we can work with you to find a solution that fits your programme.

Delivery Schedules

• We do deliveries 7 days a week, which is perfect for holiday clubs and extended programmes
• Meals are delivered at a time that suits you, so you can be sure that everything will run smoothly
• We work with your session schedule (e.g. lunch service at schools or clubs)
• Reliable, on-time delivery supports smooth service during busy HAF periods

HAF providers need a catering partner they can rely on to provide nutritious, child-friendly meals throughout their programme. At ICare Cuisine, we take care of the meal preparation and delivery, helping ensure children receive enjoyable and balanced meals as part of their HAF experience.

Our menus are created with children in mind, offering a range of nutritious and appealing meal options. By entrusting your catering requirements to ICare Cuisine, schools, charities, community groups and activity providers can reduce the time and resources involved in organising food, allowing them to concentrate on delivering enjoyable and engaging activities for children and young people.

We also accommodate any number of special requirements, such as:

• Food allergies
• Religious dietary requirements
• Vegetarian and vegan diets
• Cultural preferences
• Special educational needs and dietary considerations

Working with a local provider like ICare Cuisine for meal delivery HAF programmes offers several advantages:

• Reliable deliveries directly to your venue.
• Freshly prepared meals and sandwiches.
• Child-friendly menus that encourage healthy eating habits.
• Faster communication and responsive customer service.
• Greater flexibility for last-minute changes and special requests.
• Local knowledge and support throughout your programme.

Our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) meal delivery service is here to help schools, activity providers and community groups give kids a fantastic holiday experience.

The kids get to enjoy healthy, tasty meals that help them focus, learn and get stuck in with their activities, staff save loads of time and parents can rest easy knowing their kids are getting the good stuff. Whether you’re running a small holiday club or a big programme, we provide a reliable solution and excellent meal delivery service in your local area.

We know that running a successful HAF programme is all about more than just great activities. Kids need great tasting food to keep them going and give them the energy to participate all day long.

That’s why schools and organisations trust us to deliver.

What Sets Us Apart?

• Over 20 years of meal delivery experience
• More than 200 meal options available
• Hot, chilled, frozen, and sandwich meal choices
• Menus designed to meet School Food Standard
• Excellent food hygiene ratings
• Catering for all dietary requirements and allergies
• Seven-day delivery service, including school holidays
• Friendly and experienced customer support team
• Flexible ordering for programmes of all sizes