Based on numerous academic papers, the Lab has demonstrated a clear need for the UK government to ensure that all children and their families have access to enriching activities and nutritious food across the school holidays.
This research directly contributed to the Department for Education’s decision to invest £200 million per annum into its Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programmes across all 152 upper tier local authorities in England and to the expansion of other holiday programmes, such as Kitchen Social funded by the Mayor’s Fund for London. Together these programmes provide holiday food and engaging activities to millions of children and young people from across England.
The research team are currently working at further developing the HAF programme to meet the needs of young people locally and nationally. The HAF Plus programme was co-produced as a result of co-designing, with young people, a programme that specifically met the needs of teenagers living in underserved communities. The Healthy Living Lab is now collaborating with local authorities from across the UK to implement, evaluate and refine the HAF Plus programme to maximise positive health, social and educational outcomes for teenagers.
To date, the Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University has worked with the Department for Education, a number of local authorities, as well as voluntary and charitable organisations and schools to implement and evaluate HAF, HAF Plus and other holiday programmes including:
The Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University is a founding member of the HAF Alliance – a coalition of charities and not-for-profit organisations working with communities to research and address inequalities, food poverty and inactivity. As the only higher education member of the group the team continue to work to utilise their outstanding research to drive change and make a success of the Government’s expanded HAF programme.
Northumbria University recently launched its new strategy which focuses on powering an inclusive economy and driving social mobility by playing a leading role in the economic and social transformation of the North East and beyond. This is being achieved through initiatives such as the Healthy Living Lab and the impactful work it delivers. The most recent example is the HAF Plus programmes to cater for teens in the North of England. Northumbria University will not only have been instrumental in co-developing the programmes for local councils but will also be active in their delivery by providing their facilities, their staff's time and by running an accredited student volunteering programme to help with staffing the HAF programme across the region.
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