The Holiday Activity and Food Programme is a government initiative that supports children who receive benefits-related free school meals. However, Derbyshire decided that this online resource was able to be accessed by all children/young people, families, schools and activity providers.
Claire Austin, the project manager tells us more about what the Holiday and Activities and Food programme (HAF) is and what was achieved in Derbyshire. Claire commented:
“We wanted a different approach to supporting children and young people with wellbeing in Derbyshire so the Art of Brilliance was a natural partnership. We wanted to really impact on young people’s lives.
The name, “It’s about me”, was chosen through consultation, by a young man in Derbyshire Care system.
Normally a HAF provides activities and support over the school holidays, however, it was decided, that holidays are not always the time when people need help, advice and ideas, so the resource is accessible 365 days a year with updated links and new material, both national and local to Derbyshire putting all these resources in one place, planned for three launches during the year.
As part of the consultation, we requested The Art of Brilliance to create fun and engaging imagery along with an easily accessible website. This was supported by a series of impactful and unique videos and podcasts loaded with wellbeing messages based around themes – this year we are celebrating, nutrition, health and sustainability.
All the brilliant information was viewed 1000s of times, this is really amazing and it’s great that it has helped so many young people.
We are constantly tweaking and managing the site to ensure it is ‘fit’ for purpose, asking for feedback to improve and address any issues.
And what has made the project extra special was the reaction of the young people. For example, two great comments were “This is really great stuff, it made me really think about my how I need to look after myself” and “Thank you, it has made me think differently about my wellbeing”.
All in all a wonderful project that has made a difference to young people, now and has given them tools for the future.”
You can see all the great resources on the It’s About Me website.