The Holiday Activities and Food Programme is a programme of funded activities during the school holidays aimed to get children who attend to:
- Eat more healthily over the school holidays
- Be more active during the school holidays
- Be safe and not to be socially isolated
- Have a greater knowledge of health and nutrition
- Be more engaged with school
*Oldham's Holiday Activities and Food Programme is funded by the Department for Education.
Eligibility
The Department for Education sets the eligibility criteria for the Holiday Activities and Food programme.
Children aged 5 to 16, who receive targeted benefits-related free school meals in Oldham, can book these sessions for free.
Benefits related free school meal criteria:
- Income support
- Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
- Income-related employment and support allowance
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Child tax credit (provided you’re not also entitled to working tax credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
- The guarantee element of state pension credit
- Working tax credit run-on – paid for four weeks after you stop qualifying for working tax credit.
- Universal credit with annual net earned income of less than £7,400
From September 2026 there will be changes to who is entitled to free school meals (fsm):-
- Targeted free school meals- Children and young people in families receiving Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less
- Expanded free school meals- Children and young people in families receiving Universal Credit with no limit on annual income
- Universal free school meals- All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2
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Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) sessions are available to those in receipt of targeted free school meals.
HAF eligibility criteria is set by the Department for education.
To check your children FSM eligibility please visit- https://www.oldham.gov.uk/info/201166/resources_for_schools/1816/free_school_meals_checker
If your child is in reception, year 1 or year 2 they are automatically entitled to the universal free school meal offer. This is not benefits related and unfortunately is not part of the eligibility criteria for the holiday activities and food programme.