Belazu Foundation Food & Fun Club

According to the latest figures provided by the charity Feeding Britain over 3 million children in the UK are at risk of hunger during the summer holidays. This crisis has led to a rise in the provision of holiday clubs across the country that are trying to tackle this problem. Since 2017, Belazu Foundation and School Food Matters have organised the Food and Fun Club. The Food and Fun Club is a holiday hunger provisions programme that provides 52 local children with healthy food and fun activities during the long summer holidays. The activities range from arts and crafts to gardening, cooking and sports which are enjoyed during the morning followed by a hot, healthy lunch. Over the course of 6 weeks, 58 Belazu employees volunteer at Food & Fun Club to engage with the children and help run the activities.

As well as providing a hot meal and fun activities through the holiday, the club acts as a learning stimulus. Children leak knowledge over the summer meaning that their return to school in September can be a very challenging time, especially for the most vulnerable children. By combining food and fun and the structure of the program ensures that the children are able to keep the progress that they gained over the course of the previous school year. From the impact report conducted last year, the teachers stated that the pupils behaviour was amazing compared to previous years where the food and fun club wasn’t held.

We have received really positive feedback from both teachers and parents about the importance of the Food and Fun Club:

• “Coming to the club means that the children get a healthy meal and get to run off all the energy that they have.” – Parent of a family currently living in bed and breakfast accommodation.

• “Having all this for free has really helped me this summer. Please do it next year.”  – Mother of a year 2 child who attends Food and Fun Club

• “Belazu volunteers jumped in and engaged with every activity. All the staff members commented on how wonderful it was to see this. It was also a great opportunity for the children to interact with people from so many different backgrounds.”

• “Belazu volunteers were fantastic! It was an amazing opportunity to have adults that no preconceived notions about the children and their abilities.”