Essex ActivAte Club FAQs

Essex ActivAte is the name of the Holiday Activity and Food programme, which runs across Essex and Thurrock on behalf of Essex County Council and Thurrock Council. The programme ensures children on income related free school meals are supported through the holidays with physical Activity, enrichment Activity and Food Education as well as receiving a hot meal during the day.

The National programme which is funded by the Department of Education runs across the 3 main school holidays Easter, Summer and Winter.

Essex County Council also fund an extension of the programme to offer clubs during many of the Half Terms, as they recognise that children and families also need support during the shorter school holidays.

We work with a network of locally trusted organisations to deliver clubs across Essex. Some providers are running a single club from their own venue, some larger organisations are running multiple clubs across the county. Delivery partners are selected following an application process with Essex County Council Procurement and Active Essex work very closely with these organisations to ensure all clubs maintain the same standards of care, provide a wide variety of activities and offer a free school meal standard lunch.

Delivery Partners will have a Quality Assurance check during the year to ensure they are following the expected guidance from the Department for Education and that they have all Governance in place.

You can find contact details for each delivery partner by using the Activity Finder on the Active Essex Website – Activity Finder | Active Essex. If you have a general enquiry please message us on Facebook or email [email protected].

Each Essex ActivAte holiday club will deliver fun physical and enrichment activities, and provide a tasty, nutritious meal. The activities on offer will change depending on the club provider, venue and day of the week. For more details about the activities on offer you’re your child will be attending, please contact the individual club provider.

Our free holiday clubs are for school aged children and young people who are eligible for income related free school meals. There are a small number of funded spaces available for young people who fall outside of the eligibility criteria, and we work with Professional Referral Services to ensure these children are also supported.

We are afraid these free spaces are only for children who receive benefits based free school meals rather than the universal free school meals in reception, year 1 and year 2. Therefore children who receive free school meals due to their year group are not eligible, unless you have a referral from a Professional Referral Service.

Not necessarily, some clubs do offer paid spaces alongside government funded spaces. Please contact the individual club provider to enquire about this.

All Essex ActivAte clubs are inclusive.

In addition, Active Essex and Essex County Council also recognise that some children require additional support or a calmer environment. We are therefore running specialist SEND and Mental Wellbeing Hubs across the county.

Mental Wellbeing Hubs are in place to support children and young people who may not be comfortable in some of our more busy mainstream clubs. These shorter sessions provide a calmer environment, with activities chosen to promote creativity, relaxation, mindfulness, and creating a safe space for children to enjoy activities and speak to peers or team members.

SEND Clubs are run by specialist coaches, providing tailored activities for those with special educational needs or disabilities. Please ensure you speak to the Club provider before booking to ensure they are able to offer the right amount of support for your child.

Active Essex work with a central booking system called Holiday Activities. All eligible children will be sent a Voucher containing a unique code from Holiday Activities with a booking link to take you straight to the booking page.

If you need help and support with making a booking please see our information guide here – I’m a parent – Holiday Activities

You do not necessarily need to book onto your nearest club, you can travel as far as you are willing to access the club you wish. We can search for clubs by district on the Active Essex Activity Finder – Activity Finder | Active Essex so that you are easily able to view clubs in nearby areas.

We have worked hard to ensure there is no difference between government funded spaces and paid spaces. If a club is running paid spaces alongside free spaces, there will be no way to differentiate between the two. All children will arrive at the same time and take part in the same activities, with the same lunch provided.

A small number of clubs are offering an extended day for a small fee, these spaces are predominantly for working families who require the longer day due to work hours. Throughout the rest of the day these children will be entirely integrated.

The booking process will depend on which club you have opted for, however no matter whether bookings require a voucher code or are taken through a slightly different page, there will be no difference between the experience at clubs.

We aim to run clubs at least 4 of the 5 working days each week of the school holidays. We do not run clubs on bank holidays, but we endeavour to run clubs across all other days of the week.

Please get in touch with the club provider to discuss your child’s needs and any arrangements that may need to be made.

To find out specifics about what activities will be provided, what food will be on offer or what a day at the club will look like please contact the club provider.

Within most clubs it is not standard practice for parents to stay, as we hope this support will allow you time to do your own thing. However, you can get in touch with the delivery partner to enquire about staying to watch or what facilities are available at the venue while you wait. If your child has additional needs and would be more comfortable if you were nearby we completely understand this, please contact the individual club provider to make these arrangements.

If your child has additional needs and usually has a carer during the school holidays they are of course able to attend with them. In these circumstances we would most likely recommend your child attends a SEND or Mental Wellbeing Hub, as activities are tailored to children’s needs and staff are experienced in this type of care. If you are arranging a carer to attend please contact the individual club provider to inform them beforehand.

Please note that if your child usually has a carer at school during term time, our funding does not cover this one to one support at our holiday clubs.

Where possible it is best to drop off and collect at the stated times, however if you need to adapt this please contact the club providers to make arrangements.

This will depend on the club and what type of activities they will be doing. Most providers will inform you of this during the booking process or after you have booked on, however if you are still not sure please contact the club provider for more details.

Yes! We have a number of free resources available online, including activity packs for different age groups and hours of content on the Find Your Active YouTube channel. These all include a range of physical and enrichment activities, with many inclusive sessions and family activity ideas. These resources will be available from the Support page and from local club providers once the summer holidays begin!