HAF Annual Report 2024/25
Key highlights, outcomes and facts
The HAF programme has ensured that children and young people attending have enjoyed a range of fun, enriching and physical activities to keep them engaged and active. A large proportion of HAF club attendees return to attend subsequent HAF programmes. Alongside providing structured activities, HAF clubs also presented children and young people with the opportunity to:
- experience new things
- become more physically active
- learn new skills
- try new foods
- make new friends
For parents and carers, the programme has meant that they have had childcare provision to allow them to work or focus on studies. It has helped to reduce financial worries during school holiday periods as well.
The HAF programme has also benefited the local economy in Buckinghamshire through:
- funding of local activity providers to deliver the clubs
- funding of local food businesses that have provided healthy food for the HAF programme.
Various organisations delivering HAF have shown growth in parallel with the programme. Some have transitioned from sole traders to registered businesses. Others have become Ofsted registered, expanding their offer outside of HAF and becoming more sustainable.
Across 2024, Buckinghamshire’s SEND offer has seen further growth. More children and young people with identified SEND accessed HAF across the three delivery periods. The majority accessed ‘mainstream’ provision. This was due to the work of our ‘mainstream’ providers making the conscious effort to become as inclusive as possible.
- 3518 individual children and young people accessed HAF across
- 2024/25 with 929 of them having some form of SEND.
- Increase in the number of SEND places offered this year from 1,545 in 2023/24 to 2,221 in 2024/25.
- Increase in the number of HAF club locations from an average of 48 in 2023/24 to 58 in 2024/25.
- Increase in the total number of places attended by eligible children and young people to 21,450.
- Three Christmas family pantomime and meal events. Coordinated in collaboration with Aylesbury Youth Action.
- Three additional family events at Tring Museum, Whipsnade Zoo, and Hughenden Manor. Presenting opportunities for families to experience HAF together and build cultural capital.
- £5,328 of additional funding offered by local supermarkets and distributed to 8 providers. Enabling extra places to be offered, new equipment to be purchased and new activities to be offered, including a trip to Legoland.
- 350 take-home vegetable growing packs funded by Buckinghamshire Council’s Public Health team. Distributed amongst 13 providers delivering in priority Bucks wards.
- Balanceability sessions delivered to 300 children aged 4 to 7 across 17 locations throughout Buckinghamshire. Teaching the basics of riding a bike.
- Additional enriching activities funded by the HAF programme have allowed children and young people to experience out of the ordinary activities. These include a roaming farm, beatbox workshops, a gaming bus, magic workshops and Zorb activities.
- 36 overnight camping stays for families of those with SEND.
- 1670 ‘Eat the Rainbow’ resource packs funded by Buckinghamshire Council’s Public Health team. Distributed across 47 locations in Buckinghamshire.