Calthorpe’s Summer 2026 HAF Programme
This year we had Calthorpe’s biggest and best HAF programme to date!
Children who attended our summer holiday programme grew and developed over the course of our summer school. Our programme is targeted at children aged between 8-12 years old. We had 500 places available during the month of August, Monday to Friday from 10AM to 4PM.
A big thank you to Young Camden Foundation for ensuring we are a HAF provider through the Department for Education. As well as Comic Relief Sainsbury’s, John Lyons and Hargreaves for enabling us to go above and beyond for the children of Camden this summer.
Being a growing space in the heart of King’s Cross, we make the most of this during our cookery workshops which took place everyday of the programme, other than field trip days. Children master the technique of using a knife in the kitchen and harvest produce straight from the garden to go into lunch, which is almost unheard of in London for most people. Children learn about plant cycles through visually seeing how food is grown in the garden and actively participate. Allso taking turns laying the table for lunch time everyday. These are life skills children will cherish and hopefully remember fondly of going into the future.
Being a green space in London, we can’t not mention the extreme temperatures we faced over the course of this summer. This actually resulted in Calthorpe having to close its doors on one day of the holiday programme. Closures like this affects the most vulnerable families and is a matter of urgency that we find more resilient solutions to combatting the changing climate and feeding our communities.
Historically Calthorpe has been known for its football pitch, which is still very much on offer. However, this year volleyball and contemporary dance has also been available for children to try. Physical activity also boosts children’s physical and mental wellbeing.
It is demonstrated that most children from low income households face the most malnutrition and weight gain during the six week holidays. Weight gain is a result of malnutrition rather than a problem in itself. Offering a nutritious meal and physical activity everyday during the HAF programme combats this issue and is why we think HAF should be here to stay.
We have also increased our capacity to work with children who have special educational needs as a result of additional support through the Young Camden Foundation. Our specialist has even noted a huge improvement in speech and language with our young people. Being in nature has proven to be calming at Calthorpe and we offer sensory play in the mud.
Our summer school boasts a range of educational enrichment activities. With a particular focus on nature based activities like: the Sustain Capital Growth Big City Bug Hunt with a Critter Consultant, composting workshops with our in house specialist Marta and learning all about fungi with Lotta from London Mycology Project who also taught about how fungi can tackle fast fashion. We have also had nature based art workshops for children throughout the programme. As well as drumming workshops and a robotics workshop where children learned how to make their own video games.
An honorable mention on the children’s exceptional puppet making. Artist Corrine Beatty came up with identity dolls which they have been creating since the start of the programme. The creation of these dolls made children think of themselves and allowed introspection of oneself. These were then exhibited at the end of the holiday programme where we held a retrospective celebration of the summer at Calthorpe for our Kids’ Festival.
This retrospective was a co-created Kid’s Festival, where the children had agency in the programming of the day. Local councillor Marcus Boyland attended and met with the children and families on our programme for a celebratory BBQ where we had an exhibition of the artwork created by the children and a dance performance and many workshops on the day.
We had a wide array of trips this year which included outdoor cinema KX to watch Goat, Go Ape, London Zoo, River Canal Trust Boat safety trip and the final hurrah to Margate seaside.
This year, we were able to take children and their families to Margate to experience the seaside on a coach, a vast improvement to last year as we have to take families on the train. Children enjoyed paddling in the water, fish and chips on the seafront and rides in the theme park at Dreamland.
What is HAF?
“The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme has become one of the most effective ways of supporting children and families during the school holidays. Every year, it provides nutritious meals, enrichment activities and safe spaces for children who might otherwise go without.
For many families, HAF is much more than a holiday club. It eases pressure on household budgets, helps parents balance work and childcare, and gives children opportunities to play, learn and socialise during the school holidays.” (Feeding Britain)
Yesterday Feeding Britain submitted the ‘The case for keeping the link between free school meal entitlement and access to the Holiday Activities and Food programme’. Which we back here at Calthorpe Community Garden. https://feedingbritain.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Feeding-Britain-HAF-Briefing.pdf
At Calthorpe, HAF isn’t just about tackling food insecurity, it is an alternative space where children can grow and experience opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise living in inner city London. All children deserve the Right to Food everyday and they deserve to have enjoyable and enriching experiences during the holiday period.
Authored by Ketchurah Ravindren, Community Engagement Manager.
