Elected Member Briefing Note 2024, No. 91
About this Briefing Note
Report by: Bernadette Martin-Scott, Service Manager - Early Years & Childcare, Education and Learning
Date: 08 October 2024
Subject: Food Insecurity Fund
Responsible Officer: Susan Johnstone, Team Leader, Education and Learning
Purpose
Details
This Briefing Note provides information on how the Food Insecurity Fund has been used to support activities for children during school holidays.
Briefing Information
This year the service received £100k to fund activities up to Easter 2025 through PKC budget processes with no additional funding available from the Scottish Government to support summer 2024.
This fund is for the targeted provision of accessible activities, childcare and food for children between two and 16-years-old from low-income families during the school holidays.
Activities supported by this funding can be for the children or the whole family. The targeted funding will support the six priority groups highlighted in the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.
The approving panel consisting of representatives from the Early Years and Childcare Service carefully considered the applications from all organisations to ensure there was a spread across Perth and Kinross. One third of the application was required to provide a healthy meal and the remainder to provide the activity. This year almost all groups received part funding to provide a programme for children and families.
Children and families attended a variety of activities including cooking workshops, picnics in the parks, holiday playschemes, breakfast and lunch clubs, football camps, enhanced transitions for children starting P1, arts and crafts sessions, den building sessions and parent and family learning sessions.
Evaluations returned from groups who benefited from the funding show a positive impact. The reach is lower than summer 2023, due to the reduction of funding allocated to groups.
| Summer 2023 | Summer 2024 |
|---|---|---|
Meals and Snacks | 20,580 | 10,361 |
Children who participated in one or more session | 4,659 | 3,228 |
Families | - | 762 |
Organisations | 40 | 36 |
Funds | £126,935 | £55,213 |
Funding has been allocated for the October holidays, with 25 groups now planning their holiday food and activities programmes for that period.
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