Over the summer children and young people took part in a variety of exciting, unique, and enriching activities, such as:
- paddle-boarding across our stunning coastline
- woodwork in the one of our beautiful forests
- team sports such as cricket, basketball, and football
- raft building with a team of friends
- so many more fantastic experiences
All this was made possible by Summer in Dorset, a Dorset Council initiative that aims to bring high-quality, accessible, and affordable holiday activities to families in Dorset.
Summer in Dorset is funded from the Department for Education’s Holiday Activity and Food programme. This enables the council to provide free activities for children who all receive benefit-related free school meals. The council offered an incredible 18,000 funded places across 50 locations for eligible children. Many of these sessions were also open to fee-paying families, so all children and young people could have a summer to remember.
Over 1,500 children who were eligible for free school meals came along to at least one Summer in Dorset activity, with the many attending more. Nutrition and promoting a healthy lifestyle were key aspects of the programme, with over 8,500 free, tasty and healthy meals provided. Nutritional education was incorporated into the activities where possible.
Cllr Andrew Parry, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Children, Education and Early Help said: “It’s amazing to be able to support our families in such a direct and joyous way. Summer in Dorset not only provided a fantastic collection of events, activities and clubs for children and young people but also took the pressure off many parents who were juggling childcare with work and other commitments.”
A huge thank you must go to the local schools who were key in helping their pupils to access this opportunity, and the amazing volunteers who generously gave up their time to bring happiness to so many children, and of course the local organisations and activity providers who all contributed to the brilliant collection of activities available. Many parents have shared with the council how Summer in Dorset has benefited their families:
‘My daughters really enjoyed the activities provided, it was great for them both to connect with new people, being outdoors most of the day, they had a great time!’
‘Absolutely brilliant summer holidays. Thanks so much. It was really helpful for my daughter to attend sessions as I am a lone working parent with absolutely no support network and I also care for my elderly mum who has dementia.’
‘Wow, I don’t know where to start. All I can say is thank you for the experience. My autistic son has done activities that he could only dream of, he made friends that’s we are staying in touch with and even more it’s something he talks positively about. My son needs to be doing something everyday or he will meltdown, the opportunities he was given and the variety of activities were amazing and certainly helped us through a long holiday period. From the bottom of our hearts thank you summer in Dorset and all the providers that welcomed us’
Plans are now underway for the next instalment of the programme, due to take place over the Christmas holidays. Dorset Council will be contacting families over the coming months with details of the enriching activities, holiday clubs and childcare that will be available.
Applications are now open for activity providers who want to sign up for the Christmas programme. Any organisations that wish to take part can visit our HAF provider page for more information about the programme and complete the application form. Be aware the deadline for applications is Friday 15 October 2021.
Contact summerindorset@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk for more info
