Agenda item

To report and comment on the outcome of the summer programme for children and young people.

Daniel Ball (Leisure Client Contract Manager) and Erica Owusu-Boateng (Holiday Activities and Food Programme Manager) reported on the outcome of the Community Summer and the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programmes.

Ms Owusu-Boateng reported that the HAF programme was funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and this had been extended for a further two years.  It was targeted at children and young people who were eligible for free school meals with the aim of addressing holiday hunger.  Food and food education were provided.  Amongst the achievements of the programme for this year was an increase in the numbers of children with SEND, early years and 11 to 16 year olds.  There was increased awareness of the programme amongst providers, which had resulted in more delivering sessions.  There had also been an increase in the number of volunteers. 

Mr Ball reported that the Community Summer Programme aimed to provide positive activities for children and young people. Efforts has been undertaken to link it with the HAF programme.  The Summer Programme had provided a range of activities including tennis, swimming, football and ice skating.  Some provision was provided on a drop-in basis and aimed at older children whilst some was targeted at specific families.  The majority of the delivery of both programmes was in the east of the borough, where deprivation and eligibility for free school meals was the greatest.   There was more targeted and strategic work in the west of the borough. 

25,000 hard copies of the Summer Programme booklet had been printed, which was 4,000 more than last year.  The majority of these had been circulated to schools and community centres.  There had also been on-line engagement with a 34% increase in the downloads of the programme.  The vast majority of those who attended were from the N17 postcode.  The majority of those who attended for single sessions were male, whilst more females attended regularly.   They were looking at how males could be attracted to attend more frequently as well as what activities and venues might attract more females. There had also been specific activities for disabled children, including cycling.  Measures had also been taken to make all provision as inclusive as possible so that disabled and non-disabled children could take part together.

Ms Owusu-Boateng reported that the monitoring data showed that the majority of those attending both schemes were from the black African community.  In addition, targeted work had been undertaken with the Somali community.  There had been an increase in early years attendees, who had been specifically targeted.  The HAF programme attracted younger children than the community scheme.  It was more structured in nature and therefore more attractive to parents of children of primary school age.

In terms of future plans, there would be a further three years of funding for the HAF scheme but funding only covered the longer school holidays.   More work would be done with schools and in respect of food provision.   There would also be engagement with young people to determine how more females could be attracted and how males could be encouraged to attend more often.  There would also be work to maximise inclusion and streamline data collection. 

In answer to a question, Ms Owuse-Boateng stated that the HAF programme attracted more primary school children due to the structure of the programme. In particular, it had an earlier start time and the presence of younger children could make it less attractive for older children.    Mr Ball added that drop ins and less structured sessions were more attractive for older children, some of which were specifically targeted at them.  Young men were not all just attending single sessions but attending slightly less frequently than females.  In addition, it was not always possible to distinguish gender from monitoring data.   This was particularly true for swimming, which was nevertheless known to be popular with females.   Work was taking place with Fusion to address this.  

The Panel raised the following stated that there were pockets of deprivation in the west of the borough, including areas with a high proportion of people living in private rented accommodation.  There was often a lack of community space in such areas.  They also raised the role of schools in holiday programmes.  Ms Owusu-Boateng stated that more provision would be provided in the west of the borough.  It was known that there were pockets of deprivation there.  It could nevertheless be difficult finding providers who were able to deliver there, although more were now becoming available.  More schools had engaged in the programmes this year and it was hoped that more would participate as the benefits became more apparent.  Data relating to deprivation in the private rented sector would be sought from the Council’s performance to see if this could be factored in as part of future planning.

A Panel Member reported that a football scheme in Chestnuts Park had not taken place as advertised as the provider had not turned up, leaving children disappointed. Mr Ball stated that he had not been aware of this incident but would follow it up. Efforts were made to ensure that providers knew what was expected of them beforehand, including a providers meeting.  The need for timeliness and providing a friendly and inclusive environment were emphasised.  Unannounced monitoring visits were also undertaken.