Holiday Activities and Food annual report

In 2024, our Pop Up Kitchens continued to be well used and travelled between HAF clubs across Gateshead. The fact that the kitchens can travel between clubs means many children across Gateshead can enjoy and benefit from this provision. Their use falls into two main categories:

• children cooking their own meal for that day, generally their own lunch.
• children cooking a meal to take home to enjoy with their families.

We have a total of 5 Pop Up Kitchens that can accommodate 16 children in pairs and 24 children in groups of 3.

We have found that, when the children are involved in cooking their own lunch, they are more likely to eat it. It also helps the children understand where their food is coming from and develops valuable skills they can use in later life.

During term time and some half term periods, the Pop Up Kitchens can be loaned out to youth clubs and adult learning programmes to further increase nutritional activity for the benefit of the whole community.

At Christmas, we were able to issue 2 DishUp recipe boxes to the majority of HAF club attendees. These boxes were sent to the homes of these individuals and contained everything required to make a healthy, vegetarian meal for 4. Easy-to-follow recipe cards were included in the boxes, supplemented by videos on social media. As well as receiving a DishUp recipe box, families also received a Wild for Life box. This offering contained several activities that children could follow at home, ensuring they remained active during the Winter months.

Chartwells continue to provide some cooking lessons for children attending clubs on their sites in Gateshead as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility Programme. 

Bushtucker Trials have been a really popular way of encouraging children to try new textures and flavours. They have also proved to be effective in reducing food waste, as children are more likely to try new foods, and so less goes to waste. On the topic of reducing food waste, and promoting a healthy diet and lifestyle, we have offered HAF providers the chance to have a smoothie bike at their provision. Children are able to engage in exercise, while creating nutritious smoothies, typically made from surplus fruit and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste. By the end of 2024, we had purchased a total of 10 high-powered blenders that could be used to make smoothies. 

Resources on the GULP website have proven popular in the post-lunch period at clubs to interactively illustrate the sugar content of many popular drinks.

Working on their Offer

Participants in Aprons

Brian Presenting at start of the day

Working on their Offer

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