Holiday Activities and Food annual report 2025

In 2025, our Pop-Up Kitchens continued to play a vital role across the Gateshead Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme. These mobile kitchen units were in constant demand and travelled between numerous HAF clubs throughout the borough. Their portability is a key strength, enabling a wide range of children across Gateshead to access and benefit from high-quality, practical cooking experiences, regardless of location. This flexible model ensures that opportunities for food education are distributed equitably, reaching communities that might otherwise have limited access to such resources.

The use of the Pop-Up Kitchens broadly falls into two main categories. Firstly, children are given the opportunity to prepare and cook their own meals during sessions, typically their lunch for that day. Secondly, sessions are also designed to enable children to cook meals that they can take home, encouraging shared family mealtimes and extending the impact of the programme beyond the club setting. Both approaches have proven highly effective in building confidence, independence, and enthusiasm around food.

Currently, we operate five Pop-Up Kitchens. Each unit is designed to safely accommodate hands-on learning for groups of children, with the capacity to support up to 16 children working in pairs or up to 24 children working in groups of three. This structure allows for collaborative learning while ensuring that each child remains actively involved in the cooking process.

We have consistently observed that when children are directly involved in preparing their own meals, they are significantly more likely to eat and enjoy the food they have made. This engagement not only promotes healthier eating habits but also deepens their understanding of where food comes from and how it is prepared. Importantly, it equips them with practical life skills—such as food preparation, kitchen safety, and basic nutrition knowledge—that can have lasting benefits well into adulthood.

Beyond holiday provision, the Pop-Up Kitchens are also utilised during term time and selected half-term periods. They can be loaned out to youth clubs and adult learning programmes, further extending their reach and supporting nutritional education across the wider community. In addition, we maintain a supply of ten high-powered blenders that can be borrowed by clubs. These are used to create healthy smoothies, soups, and other nutritious recipes, offering an accessible way for both children and adults to explore healthier food choices.

During the Christmas break, the Gateshead HAF programme adapted its delivery model to a remote format. This approach helped to overcome challenges such as adverse weather conditions and seasonal closures, while also creating new opportunities to strengthen local partnerships. In collaboration with Feeding Families, we developed and distributed recipe boxes that not only supported families but also sourced ingredients from local businesses, thereby contributing to the local economy. Volunteers from Peace of Mind played a crucial role in assembling these boxes, demonstrating strong community collaboration.

Each recipe box contained ingredients for simple, nutritious meals—such as Rainbow Couscous and Curry in a Hurry—alongside engaging cook-along videos and Wild for Life activity packs designed to encourage outdoor play and physical activity. This holistic approach ensured that families were supported not only nutritionally, but also in maintaining active and healthy lifestyles during the holiday period.

In 2025, we also placed a stronger emphasis on improving dietary fibre intake. This focus arose after identifying relatively high rates of constipation among primary-aged children within the programme. In response, we provided targeted guidance to HAF providers and developed an accessible infographic aimed at both providers and families. This resource promoted the importance of fibre-rich diets and offered practical suggestions for incorporating more fibre into everyday meals.

Engagement activities such as Bushtucker Trials have proven particularly popular with children. These sessions encourage participants to try new foods, textures, and flavours in a fun and supportive environment. As well as broadening children's tastes, this activity has also contributed to reducing food waste, as children are more willing to try unfamiliar foods rather than discard them.

In line with our commitment to sustainability and healthy lifestyles, we have also introduced smoothie bikes across a number of HAF provisions. These interactive resources allow children to generate the power needed to blend their own smoothies through physical activity. Typically, the smoothies are made using surplus fruit and vegetables, helping to minimise food waste while promoting both exercise and nutrition in an engaging, hands-on way.

Finally, resources available on the GULP website have continued to be widely used within HAF clubs, particularly during post-lunch sessions. These resources provide interactive and visual tools to help children understand the sugar content of many popular drinks. By presenting this information in an engaging and accessible format, children are better equipped to make informed and healthier choices.