Rosedene, a childcare provider with sites across Tees Valley and North Yorkshire, has helped more than 100 low-income families in Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar by offering free places to a summer holiday club.
The nursery worked with the local authorities in the three areas, with funding from the government’s holiday activities and food programme, to provide a summer of activities for children who were eligible for free school meals.
The government initiative made £220 million available to local authorities to coordinate free holiday provision to disadvantaged children, including healthy food and enriching activities.
Rosedene’s activities included: an Ormesby Hall outdoor exploring session, a forest school cooking session, a community litter pick, the Flatts Lane nature wildlife walk and den building sessions at Stewart’s Park.
Laura Weir, hub manager at Rosedene, said: “At Rosedene, our top priority is the wellbeing of the children in our care. We know how difficult the past 18 months has been, particularly for families from lower income families, and we wanted to make sure that as many parents as possible could get back to work knowing their children were safely looked after.
“We pride ourselves in offering healthy and educational activities all year round, and the summer holiday club was no exception. The children had a lovely time and their parents had peace of mind.
“We’d like to thank the local authorities in Middlesbrough, Stockton and Redcar for their support funding the programme and making sure we were able to offer places to as many children as possible.
“The holiday activities and food programme was a fantastic initiative and we hope that the government plans to run it again next year.”