A slice of a £1.4m funding boost will be used for free holiday and food schemes for Bolton children over the summer.  

This comes after Bolton Council announced earlier this year that it had secured £1,436,710 from the government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF), which aims to give children on free school meals activities to do  during school holidays.

Over this summer, the activities will include a mobile skate park in various locations, community park sessions and various sports and cooking activities.

Bolton Council cabinet member for children’s services, Cllr Anne Galloway, said: “School holidays can be a challenging time for families who may be struggling with the rising cost of food and childcare.

“The HAF programme has been really well received and these sessions give children the opportunity to make new friends, get active and learn new skills.

“We are also pleased to provide a number of activates that are open to all children and young people.

“Many children have experienced isolation in recent years, so we are encouraging all young people to find out what activities are available and to get out and about this summer.”

Youngsters can participate in the various activities for four hours a day, four days a week for four weeks over summer from July 25 to September 2.

While the programme focuses on young people who are on free school meals, there will also be open activities for everyone.

All activities are optional and eligible families will be still be able to collect receive free lunches from one of Urban Outreach’s BL Lunches pick-up points whether or not they choose to take part.

The activities have been devised by Bolton Council alongside several volunteer and charities group operating across the borough, while the park sessions will be delivered in partnership with Urban Outreach, Bolton at Home, Classroom Kitchen, and Bolton Wanderers.

Organisers have said some of them will feature special surprise guests.

Having already been used to fund Easter activities, the programme will next be used over the Christmas break.

A full programme of events can be found at bolton.gov.uk/HAF.