We recognise that school holidays can be a challenging time for some families, due to the increasing cost of living. A lack of access to organised out-of-school activities can lead to 'unhealthy holidays', where children have limited access to nutritious meals and engaging physical activities.
To help deal with this issue, we are offering funding for free holiday activity and food clubs taking place during the school holidays. We are looking to fund programmes that will provide accessible, healthy activities alongside education on nutrition.
Key information
- Funding is available for Easter, summer and Christmas holiday periods (and limited funding for half terms via a separate process). It will help to support with the delivery of food activity projects for children and young people aged 5 to 16 years who are entitled to Benefits Related Free School Meals (FSM). From 12 January to 2 February 2026 is the only application window for any/all of the school holiday periods during 2026.
- Up to 15% of this funding can be used to provide free or subsidised holiday club places for children who are not in receipt of benefits-related free school meals but who are considered by the local authority to be in need of this provision.
- All applications must be submitted by 5pm on Monday 2 February 2026.
- This fund is for voluntary and community sector organisations, including:
- youth and play organisations
- sports clubs
- schools and other educational establishments (such as SEND, PRUs and supplementary schools, and out of school provision)
- arts and culture organisations
- outdoor adventure and education organisations.
- Organisations must be based in Manchester and/or are working with Manchester residents in their HAF provision.
- Funding is available for revenue spend - delivery and/or equipment.
- There is no limit on the amount of funding that can be applied for.
- We encourage partners and schools to work together to share delivery
- Minimum delivery timescales are 4 hours per day x 4 days per week each week of delivery at Easter and summer (can be 2 days at Christmas/New Year).
- Each day there needs to be a minimum of 1 hour of physical activity within the programme.
- Applications will be assessed on quality and breadth of offer, value for money, track record (where relevant) and location of participants (taking account of the statistical percentage numbers of local children entitled to benefits-related free school meals – see the table in the application prospectus).
- Applicants can apply for funding for multiple projects in different locations.
If you would like to discuss an alternative delivery model or have any questions, contact us at haf@mcractive.com.
For more detailed guidance, download the application prospectus.