Holidays Are Fun annual report 2025 to 2026

Key challenges in delivering the programme in 2025 to 2026 included:

• places being booked but children not attending on the day
• increased provider costs, particularly relating to venues, staffing, and food which meant providers increasingly advising they are struggling to achieve target costs
• insufficient specialist Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) providers in Stockton-on-Tees locality
• a reduction in Department for Education funding alongside an increase in the number of eligible children
• a growing number of requests for support for children who are not eligible under the benefit‑related free school meals criteria
• the late announcement of Holidays Are Fun (HAF) funding, which made advance planning with providers for 2025 to 2026 challenging