We are pleased to announce that this year’s Halton Borough Council Holiday Activity Fund is now available for applications for the Winter period to support the delivery of a range of positive activities for the young people living in the Halton Council area.
Key dates for application process
Programme Aims
The programme aims to help eligible children eat more healthily, be more active and develop resilience, character and wellbeing through enriching activities. It also aims to ensure that children are safe, not socially isolated during the holidays and return to school feeling more engaged and ready to learn.
There are many benefits for children who attend the HAF programme. HAF providers should ensure a high-quality experience that will result in children:
HAF also improves accessibility and affordability of childcare during school holidays opening up work opportunities for parents on low incomes to support their families. Adopting mixed models or longer sessions can also help to support families more broadly to work or manage other commitments.
Families can also benefit, when HAF providers include their needs in planning and delivering their programme. This could be through:
Eligibility
For 2026 to 2027, the HAF programme will remain in line with the existing FSM threshold, for the whole of the delivery year.
This means that from September 2026, when the new FSM expansion takes place, HAF will not be expanded to children from households in receipt of Universal Credit for this delivery period.
For further clarification:
Over the longer term, the government is reviewing how it allocates funding for disadvantaged children and young people to ensure it is targeted to those who need it most, while maintaining the overall level of spending in these funding streams. Future eligibility for HAF will be confirmed in the 2026 to 2027 financial year.
Policies and procedures
All organisations delivering the HAF programme must be able to demonstrate that they have in place relevant and appropriate policies and procedures for:
Health and Safety
All projects must be compliant with all appropriate health and safety regulations for the type of service/project being delivered. The policies must be in place and all staff and volunteers inducted and can deliver in accordance with risk assessments.
Safeguarding
The Council expects the highest delivery standards in keeping children/young people and vulnerable adults safe.
Organisations must be able to demonstrate and explain their safeguarding arrangements concerning the projects they are seeking to deliver. They must have relevant and appropriate policies and procedures in place
Volunteers and DBS checking
We know that in some settings, volunteers can play an important role in the delivery of holiday clubs.
Under no circumstances should a volunteer in respect of whom no checks have been obtained be left unsupervised or allowed to work in regulated activity.
For some of the voluntary staff involved in the delivery of the holiday, activities and food programme in holiday clubs, this work will be done regularly and considered to be regulated activity. This means they will be subject to an enhanced DBS check with barred list information.
Ofsted Registration
We encourage all our HAF providers/partners to seek an Ofsted registration at any relevant site if they do not already hold one in place. This is to support the quality of standards as each provision must deliver within the Ofsted standards. This also supports our sustainability model by allowing childcare vouchers etc. All providers/partners who have Ofsted registrations will be eligible for professional support in childcare. Applicants with Ofsted registrations will be favoured.
What you need to demonstrate in your application
When applying for this fund, you must demonstrate:
Terms and conditions
These are the terms and conditions for the youth fund grant:
Completing your application form
Our HAF Application form | HBC forms is accessible and easy read. A copy of your application will be emailed to you once you have submitted your application. Applicants are reminded that we only accept applications through the HAF Application form | HBC forms.
Before you complete your HAF Application form | HBC forms, applicants are strongly advised to take time to thoroughly read and understand the fund criteria, priorities and whether your group or organisation is eligible to apply.
Halton Borough Council data sharing
Halton Borough Council, we will share basic data information about your application with other local grant managers or funding streams. This will enable us to:
Halton Borough Council will also ensure that applicants data is stored appropriately. See details of our Data Protection.
How we make our decision
Prior to assessment Halton Council Officers will undertake due diligence on all applications to ensure that the application meets the criteria set out above and that all the relevant documentation has been submitted and is in order. Applications passing the due diligence will be considered by the Grant Panel for a decision.
The Grant Panel is made up of several individuals which also includes below:
Any queries please contact us: holidayactivityfund@halton.gov.uk
For more guidance on the HAF programme and information please visit: DFE Guidance link.