FUEL programme to provide festive fun and support

Wiltshire Council's Holiday Activity and Food programme, FUEL, is returning to provide festive fun and support during the Christmas school holidays.

Building on the success of the summer programme, which supported over 1,500 children and provided over 13,000 meals, the Christmas FUEL programme will offer free access to enriching activities, food and nutritional education during the school holidays.

The programme primarily benefits school-age children and young people up to the end of year 11 who are eligible for benefit-related Free School Meals.

The programme is funded by the Department for Education, and the council will receive £1,128,750 to deliver it in 2024. Delivery takes place during the Easter, Summer, and Christmas school holidays.

So far in 2024, sixty-one camps have been delivered, including SEND-specific camps. During the Christmas school holiday, children and young people can access up to four days of activities at locations across the county.

Parents gave positive feedback on the Easter and Summer camps, highlighting the benefits to their children’s physical and mental health. One parent commented, “My son is more confident and comfortable. He absolutely thrives when the FUEL programme is on. He has just grown a lot.”

Another commented on how much her children have enjoyed participating and that it had “kept the children active and engaged -they did nothing but rave about it”

Cllr Laura Mayes, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Children's Services, said, “Research has shown that the school holidays can be pressure points for some families because of increased costs. Children from low-income households are less likely to access organised out-of-school activities, more likely to experience ‘unhealthy holidays’ in terms of nutrition and physical health and more likely to experience social isolation.

“In Wiltshire, the FUEL programme is a response to tackling the triple inequalities of holiday hunger, physical inactivity, and social isolation.”

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Public Health, said: "FUEL continues to provide children with opportunities to have the best start in life, and to see the programme continue to thrive is not only pleasing but really important.

“Many of the organisations that supported us in the summer are back, and we're pleased to be working alongside them once again to provide exciting activities and experiences for our children, nutritious lunchtime meals and, for the first time, breakfast, thanks to funding from the Household Support Fund."

"We hope that those eligible can take advantage of the programme and that it helps as many families as possible at a particularly busy time of the year."

 For more information about the programme and how to request a place, people should visit our FUEL programme.