Almost 400 young people in East Dunbartonshire attended free activities and enjoyed a healthy lunch over the school summer holidays this year as part of the Council's 'Summer of Fun' *.
Building on previous school holiday programmes, the Council ran activities for Primary, Secondary and Additional Support Needs pupils over Summer 2021, targeting those children and young people most impacted by COVID-19.
Using additional funding from the Scottish Government, programmes were run across the area which saw pupils play, socialise and re-connect with each other and enjoy nutritious lunches and snacks.
Primary pupils enjoyed 'Snack & Play' at six hub schools**, Secondary pupils could attend two community centres, leisure centres and take part in outdoor activities while there were Playschemes for pupils of Merkland and Campsie View Schools.
In addition, parents/carer of all pupils eligible for a free school meal received a £20/week payment.
Feedback from families about the activities on offer, the application process, the food choices and the staff working with the children and young people was overwhelmingly positive. It will be used to design and improve, where possible, future holiday activities over October Week, Spring Break and Summer 2022.
Joint Leader of East Dunbartonshire Council, Vaughan Moody, said, "It's great to know that so many of our children and young people benefitted from the activities that were organised for them over the summer. And great to hear that it all went down well with the families who took part. We are always reviewing the format, developing the activities we offer, and the food we provide to make sure that school holidays are an opportunity for eligible pupils to enjoy fun times and healthy food with friends."
Joint Leader of East Dunbartonshire Council, Andrew Polson, added, "The aim of the Summer of Fun was to support some of the families hit hardest by COVID-19 and to ensure that no child went hungry because they were off school. The hope was to give them a summer to remember after the challenges and sacrifices of the pandemic - I hope we went some way to achieving that. I'd like to thank Council and EDLC Trust staff who worked with the young people to ensure they had the best possible time."
* The summer of fun was funded by the Scottish Government as part of its commitment to extend free school meals and enhance summer holiday provision. It was be delivered by the Council’s Education Service, supported by EDLC Trust.
** The six summer hub schools are Clober Primary in Milngavie, Colquhoun Park PS in Bearsden, Holy Trinity PS in Kirkintilloch, Lairdsland PS in Kirkintilloch, St. Machan's PS in Lennoxtown and Thomas Muir PS in Bishopbriggs.
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