HAF Annual Report 2024/25

Throughout 2024, extra activities were offered at HAF provisions to bolster the offer even further. These ‘Added Value’ activities were offered over the Easter and Winter delivery periods by various partners (Appendix 2). It included activities such as:

• roaming farm
• beatbox workshops
• gaming bus
• Zorb activities
• magic workshops

Alongside our ‘Added Value’ activities, in partnership with the Early Years HAF team, Public Health funded the delivery of 350 vegetable growing packs to HAF providers . They also provided 1670 of Veg Powers ‘Eat the Rainbow’ resource packs.

The delivery locations for both were decided by both the Early Years HAF team and public health. They targeted Opportunity Bucks Wards, many of which often host HAF provisions. The vegetable growing packs were delivered to 9 providers. Packs were given out at 13 locations. ‘Eat the Rainbow’ resource packs were delivered to 22 providers across 47 locations.

Feedback from providers was positive.

After ordering the vegetable growing kits and ‘Eat the Rainbow’ resources, a small amount of the allocated funds remained. These funds were used to great effect by working with one of our HAF providers, Restore Hope. They organised for the packing and delivery of ‘Eat the Rainbow’ veg boxes. This enabled 9 providers to offer the additional ‘Eat the Rainbow’ activity detailed within the resource pack they received.

Retore Hope delivered provision attended by those aged 13 to 16. They organised for their HAF attendees to play a role in the packing of the fruit and vegetable boxes. These boxes were then delivered to other HAF providers and used by the younger HAF cohort to create their fruit and vegetable rainbows. See the image below.

Bikeability returned to HAF this Easter and summer with Tiny Bikers. They delivered 28 sessions across 17 providers and 19 venues. Each session lasted 2 hours and aimed at children and young people aged 4 to 7 years who attended HAF sessions across multiple providers. Bikeability aimed to work on the fundamentals of riding a bike.

It is estimated that up to 300 children aged 4 to 7 accessed these sessions.

In summer 2024, the Early Years HAF Team continued to build relationships between themselves and local supermarkets to bolster the provision.

This work resulted in an additional £5,328.00 in funding. This was distributed to 8 providers across 10 venues located in various wards of Buckinghamshire. These additional funds were donated in the majority by Waitrose and John Lewis, with smaller additional amounts donated by Morrisons. They were used for a variety of things, including:

• Offering additional places at venues.
• Purchasing healthy snacks and resources for nutritional education activities.
• Purchase of new equipment.
• Enabling a provider to run a trip to Legoland.
• Enabling a provider to run an additional activity delivered by an external partner.