'Hard-to-book' holiday club to be overhauled
PA MediaA holiday activities programme is to be overhauled after it was found its booking system was "unfit for purpose".
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) project in Stockton, which has been running for five years, offers activities including horse-riding, martial arts and paddle-boarding, as well as healthy meals.
However, a review of the programme found that its booking system was not " friendly" although the take-up rate for places at Easter 2024 was high at 87%.
Stockton Council, which runs the programme with £1m from the Department for Education (DfE), said it offered balanced meals to children and "much-needed " for families.
The council select committee also found parents and professionals did not know about the programme and many people did not realise they were eligible to take part, despite numerous promotion efforts.
The 1,580 children who attended at Easter 2024 took up 5,227 spaces of the 6,000 available, the council said.
However, it found that low numbers of secondary school children and children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) were not taking up places, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The council said the programme offered an "astonishing" range of activities and it was working on providing SEND-only sessions in future.
Select committee chair Carol Clark said: "These activities allow our children to have fun and make new friends as well ing their development, including lifelong learning."
The council is now considering 16 recommendations including a better booking system and promoting HAF with parish and town councils.
Update: This story was amended on 15 May after more comprehensive figures were supplied by Stockton Council.