After the May Half Term, Hampshire County Council will be inviting eligible families to sign up for free school holiday clubs over the summer holidays, as part of the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) scheme. In a change to our normal approach, this summer all bookings will require children accessing benefit-related free school meal (FSM) support to be registered with the council ahead of booking and attending schemes. By registering, you will receive a unique code that can be used to book places for our scheme(s).
FAQs
Q: What has changed to the booking process?
A: New mandatory field: When booking a spot in our Hampshire HAF schemes, you will now see a new mandatory “monitoring field” where you need to enter a unique code provided by Hampshire County Council.
Booking process: When you finish selecting your desired program, you will be asked to enter the unique code in this new field before you can add the booking to your cart.
Booking for more than one child
Separate codes for each child: If you are booking for more than one child, you will need to enter a unique code for each child in the monitoring field during the booking process.
This new step ensures that every child’s booking is properly tracked and managed.
Q: How long will it take to get a response after submitting a registration form?
A: Families, or schools and providers registering on their behalf, should receive an initial response within one to two working days. If Hampshire County Council cannot confirm eligibility immediately, they will still respond within this time frame and investigate further to get back to you as soon as possible. Once the system is fully automated, a successful eligibility match will generate an almost-immediate confirmation email.
Q: What should you do if you haven’t received a response after two days?
A: If you haven’t heard back within two days, please contact the HAF team at Hampshire City Council. There might have been an issue with form submission or with the contact email address provided.
Q: What if you can’t register for HAF on your own?
A: Schools or providers can register on behalf of a family and provide them with a unique code. The form will indicate who is submitting it (family, school, provider, or other).
Q: Are there other vulnerable children eligible without free school meal status?
A: Yes, a small number of vulnerable children may be eligible without free school meal status. This includes children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), those known to social care, and children of recognised refugees with no recourse to public funds. Families should apply directly to providers, who can help advise on eligibility and availability of spaces.
Q: Why might a child not show as eligible when registering?
A: There are several reasons this might happen:
- The family hasn’t applied for benefit-related free school meal status.
- The child doesn’t attend a Hampshire County Council school.
- There may have been a data entry error when completing the form (e.g., incorrect date of birth).
- The child’s school may not have updated their free school meal records.
The process is quick and easy. Simply click here and complete the form, adding basic details about your child and yourself, and then add a contact email address. You will then receive confirmation of your eligibility for the programme and a unique registration code to use when booking, if eligible.