Thursday, 27 January 2022
Active Luton Strives to Help Children in Luton
A recent Dispatches Channel 4 film featured three boys from Farley Junior School in Luton to see how lockdown impacted their education while living in unsuitable housing during the summer term.
It was a heartbreaking documentary that showed the realities of families struggling in poverty.
One of the children, Yaqub, lives in temporary hostel accommodation with his mum and sister. They have one private room between them and share a kitchen and bathroom with other families. Within 56 days of being placed in the hostel, families are supposed to be offered alternative, more suitable housing. However, their housing officer warns them they could be there for two years. (The documentary is available to watch on All 4).
Not only is this the reality for Yaqub and the other children featured, but it is also a common occurrence for many underprivileged children in Luton and across the country.
During the holidays, children living in poverty can struggle to access even one meal a day, see their friends, or participate in any enriching activities.
Premiership footballer Marcus Rashford MBE has spoken out about his childhood:
"It’s very important that children have activities to do during the holidays. I can only go back to my own experiences and what I would have been doing if I didn’t have places my friends and I could go in a safe environment."
The Holiday Activity and Food programme (HAF), funded by the Department for Education, has been created for children and young people who struggle to access sociable activities and good food during the longer school holidays. The holiday programme can offer a safe and supportive environment where children can learn, be active and eat well with friends.
Active Luton runs Luton’s Holiday Activity and Food programme, Energise Luton. Our recent Christmas Holiday Camp was a massive success - with nearly 2,000 children attending a total of 27 holiday camps across the town in our centres and at community centres, schools and clubs.
Not only did they have great fun, but the children also enjoyed nutritious meals with their friends. They also took part in at least one hour of physical activity a day and tried out new and enriching activities, including swimming, football, Christmas arts & crafts, baking, drumming workshops, dance workshops, illustrator workshops, baking, poetry, reading and creative writing, party games and much more.
Energise Luton Holiday Camps are a fantastic way to support disadvantaged children by providing free healthy and tasty food, great activities and a safe environment to have fun and socialise. Every child deserves to enjoy nourishing meals, consistent and easily accessible enrichment activities and a place to feel safe. Funding for a further three years of Holiday Activity and Food programmes has been confirmed by the Department for Education and Energise Luton is busy planning its Easter and summer programme for Luton’s school children.
At Christmas, Amazon made a generous donation to our programme, which funded care packs for the children, including toiletries. Tesco also kindly donated fruit for the Luton camps.
Do you want to help and get involved?
If you’d like to join us and help out with this year’s holiday camps, get in touch! You could volunteer, or perhaps even sponsor something – equipment, food, specialist sessions or instructors, for example, or even by offering drivers.
To get involved with Energise Luton - email us at energiseluton@activeluton.co.uk.
Learn more about our Energise Luton Holiday Camps here.