New Filling the Holiday Gap grants scheme launched

Published Thursday, 22nd March 2018

A NEW grants scheme has been launched by Hartlepool Borough Council to ensure children across the town don't go hungry during the Easter school holidays.

The Filling the Holiday Gap scheme is designed to replace the term-time free school meals received by many children.

It aims to provide funding to public sector and voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations and other charitable groups to help them ensure families they are working with don’t suffer acute food poverty during the school holiday period.

A total of £10,000 is being made available for the Easter scheme, with £6,500 coming from the Council’s Child and Family Poverty Initiatives Reserve. The remaining £3,500 is the result of an under-spend on a previous scheme.

The deadline for applications to be received is 5pm on Tuesday 27th March.

The Easter scheme follows on from the success of three others which ran during the summer 2016, summer 2017 and Christmas 2017 school holidays. During the most recent scheme, 15 community voluntary and statutory organisations received grants. Bids centred on the provision of healthy food at community activities and healthy Christmas food hampers for vulnerable children and families.

In total, more than 2000 meals and 800 snacks were provided over the Christmas period and 467 parcels/hampers were supplied to vulnerable families.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, Leader of the Council and Chair of the Finance and Policy Committee which agreed to fund the latest grant scheme, said: “I am delighted that the Council is once again making money available to help some of the most vulnerable families in the town. It shows how we are determined to fight poverty in Hartlepool despite the huge financial pressures that we continue to face as a local authority.”

Further information on the Filling the Holiday Gap grants scheme is available at www.hartlepool.gov.uk/fillingtheholidaygap2018