Young people to FUEL up during Summer holidays

Wiltshire Council will be delivering the Government's Holiday Activity and Food programme in Wiltshire this Summer. Funded by the Department of Education, the programme provides children who are eligible for benefits related free school meals with free activity and food provision during school holiday. The programme is being delivered in partnership with Learn By Design, Occasional Kitchen and Purely Nutrition in Wiltshire.

Wiltshire's programme, branded FUEL, includes the delivery of ten face-to-face holiday activity camps, which will take place in areas of the county where there is the greatest need for the programme. The camps will provide the opportunity for children to take part in a range of enriching activities, including laser tag, climbing wall, bubble football, drumming workshops, team games, arts and crafts and Olympic activities, to name but a few.

The children will receive a nutritious lunch each and the programme will include fun sessions on healthy eating, pizza making, growing your own vegetables, and learning about nutrition through music and creative writing.

The ten camps will take place in Amesbury, Calne, Chippenham, Devizes, Melksham, Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade, Salisbury, Trowbridge, Warminster and Westbury. Each camp will run for four hours a day from 10am to 2pm, four days a week, for four weeks during the summer holidays, commencing on 2 August 2021.

There will also be two FUEL summer camps for children with a disability which will take place at Springfield Community Campus in Corsham and at Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing centre in Salisbury. All eligible children will be able to attend free of charge.

In addition to the FUEL activity camps, Wiltshire Council has also funded local organisations to deliver community activity camps in eight locations across the county, including Bradford-on-Avon, Corsham, Codford, Malmesbury, Melksham, Mere, Salisbury and Trowbridge. Children can take part in a range of fun activities and receive a nutritious meal on each day of the camp.

Eligible families should speak to their school to sign up to the programme ahead of registration closing at 12noon on 22 July 2021. For further information about the FUEL programme please visit FUEL Programme.

Councillor Laura Mayes, Deputy Leader with responsibility for Children's Services, Education and Skills said, "School holidays can be pressure points for some families due to increased costs and reduced incomes. This is particularly the case after such a challenging year when household incomes have been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. The FUEL programme aims to address this issue by making free holiday activity provision available, which incorporates fun and engaging activities as well as a nutritious food offer."

Councillor Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Leisure said "The FUEL programme was really successful at Easter with 2,345 children benefiting from the scheme and we hope to replicate this success during the summer. It is great to see such a comprehensive programme of activities available across the ten venues which will enable eligible children to have fun and remain active."