‘Fuel 4 Fun’ holiday camps and food hampers kick-off in Tameside

A SUMMER of free fun, family food and fulfilling activities for hundreds of children has kicked off in Tameside.

Fuel 4 Fun has been organised in a partnership between Tameside Council, Active Tameside and the Department for Education to take place at locations across the borough during the six-week school holidays.

The scheme is tackling food poverty and social equalities among five to 13-year-olds in receipt of free school meals and the under 18 SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) population. It offers holiday camp places and is delivering thousands of food hampers packed with enough ingredients to make four nutritious family meals five nights a week.

Children enjoy ‘Disco Dodgeball’ at Astley Sports Village, Dukinfield.

Formed through Tameside Holiday Activity and Food Funding (HAF), sport, music, crafts, gardening, cooking, nature trails and a whole host of opportunities to learn and develop life skills are being rolled out across Active Tameside centres in Stalybridge, Ashton, Hattersley, Denton Community College, Tameside Youth Service and 14 schools across the borough.

Active Tameside’s Everybody Can service is running respite camps for children with disabilities and/or additional needs, offering activities such as multi-sports, dancing, cooking and cycling and early years camps for youngsters up to five.

In tandem with Active Tameside Sport & Physical Activity Network around 10 local sports clubs will be hosting holiday camps as part of the scheme including Curzon Ashton Football Club Foundation, Priory Tennis Club in Stalybridge, Micklehurst Cricket Club in Mossley and Tameside Netball Club in Droylsden.

Every child who attends a Fuel 4 Fun camp will also receive an activity bag containing sports equipment and activity ideas they can do at home.

Councillors David Sweeton, Eleanor Wills and Leanne Feeley join children at Fuel 4 Fun at Astley Sports Village, Dukinfield

Tameside Council’s Executive Member for Lifelong Learning, Cllr Leanne Feeley, Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Population Health, Cllr Eleanor Wills, and ward member Cllr David Sweeton attended the launch at Astley Sports Village, Dukinfield, to view the activities, which included ‘Disco Dodgeball.’

Cllr Leanne Feeley, Tameside Council Executive Member for Lifelong Learning, said: “We have worked together across the partnership to deliver a fantastic free offer for children and families over the summer. By providing holiday camp places and delivering nutritious food hampers, Fuel 4 Fun mixes safe and stimulating social activities and life skills with healthy eating to boost children’s wellbeing.”

Shaun Higgins, Active Tameside’s Director of Health and Social Outcomes, said: “Active Tameside is very proud to be working with Tameside Council and various partners and community organisations to deliver a great initiative that was brought into the public limelight by the great work of Marcus Rashford.

“The aim is now to work the sustainability of the programme in the coming months.”

Places are available for free for children who receive benefits-related free school meals. For others, places are available for a fee. To request a booking form, contact fuel4fun@activetameside.com

Families across Tameside will also receive vital support over the summer months using funding from the Department for Work and Pensions, topped up by the Council, to put in place a meals voucher scheme worth £90 per eligible child.

Families on income based free school meals in the borough can use the one-off supermarket food voucher for essential supplies. The scheme is also available to care leavers, under 5s in low income families who are entitled to free child care and low income sixth form and college students.

Any families who are not eligible for free school meals but are in need of support should contact the Council’s Early Help Team on 0161 342 4260 for support and advice. For all the free summer events for all families visit www.tameside.gov.uk/familysummer21

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *