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Holiday Activities and Food (HAF)
Easter HAF 2025
Easter HAF bookings are now live.
Go to our booking website to see what activities are on and request a place. The activity provider will then review your booking request and confirm your place as soon as possible.
Over the Easter holidays the booking tool will permit each eligible participant to be booked on to four HAF places across all providers in the city.
If a session is not attended, HAF places cannot be added back onto an individual’s allocation, regardless of reason. It is therefore important that you only book sessions you know the child can attend.
If the child becomes unavailable, please cancel before the activity starts, and ideally give as much notice as possible to allow other children to benefit. Bookings can be managed by the Booker by logging into Eequ and reviewing their Schedule.
HAF 2025
The Department for Education has confirmed HAF programme funding for 2025.
Summer and winter HAF 2025 will go out to procurement once we receive the updated programme guidance.
What HAF provides
Funded by the DfE, HAF provides a programme of free activities during the school Easter, summer, and winter holidays, for people who receive benefits-related free school meals. Activities include sports, arts, music, STEM, and more.
Children and young people also receive a free balanced meal and snacks as part of their day.
There are no programmes during half-term school holidays.
Watch our film below from a Brighton Table Tennis Club HAF holiday camp to get an idea of what HAF has to offer.
Keep updated
To be updated on the future of the HAF programme, send an email to HAF@brighton-hove.gov.uk to request to be added to our distribution list.
If you want us to stop sending you emails, ask and we'll delete your contact details from the distribution list.
HAF programmes are also running in East and West Sussex, with information available here:
Benefits-related free school meals are different from universal infant free school meals. Universal infant free school meals only provide free meals to pupils in reception, year 1, and year 2.
Children must have also started attending school.
There are no public discretionary HAF places. Benefits-related free school meals is the only eligibility criteria openly used in Brighton & Hove.
HAF standards
All HAF providers are required to demonstrate they meet the programme’s framework of standards as laid out by the Department for Education.
Providers are further supported to meet these standards through training and quality assurance visits.
Additional support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
We encourage those requesting a booking for a child with SEND to do this as soon as possible. We also encourage you to contact the provider to clarify what support would be required to fully integrate the child. All HAF providers are expected to make all reasonable adjustments. Failing to disclose information could lead to the placement breaking down.
If you have questions about Brighton & Hove HAF or need support with the booking tool, send an email to haf@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
How to apply for funding to help deliver HAF
If you're an activity or food provider interested in being part of Brighton & Hove’s HAF programme, send an email to haf@brighton-hove.gov.uk. We'll add you to our distribution list to keep you informed of future funding opportunities.
