School holiday programme for vulnerable children receives funding boost.
Vulnerable children across Stoke-on-Trent will benefit from free healthy meals during the school holidays thanks to a £2,500 donation from business lender UKSE.
School children from across Stoke-on-Trent will have the opportunity to access the Hubb Foundation’s Holiday, Activities and Food (HAF) programme during the Christmas holidays which aims to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children and their families across the city.
The £2,500 donation from UKSE will enable the Hubb Foundation to offer 250 additional places on the programme to families over the Christmas period.
Working in partnership with Stoke-on-Trent City Council and funded by the Department of Education, the HAF programme provides over 45,000 free places to disadvantaged children aged 5 to 16 years old during school holidays each year.
Hosted at school and community venues during the Easter, summer and Christmas school holiday periods, the HAF programme offers four hours of free physical and enrichment activities together with healthy meals for children across the city.
The Hubb Foundation are an independent and socially inclusive charity dedicated to supporting families and communities in creating happy, healthy school holidays.
Providing strategic loan and equity packages of up to £1m to generate growth, create local job opportunities and bolster the economy, UKSE’s local team based in Cannock was recently set up to support SMEs across Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry, Staffordshire and Telford.
UKSE regional executive Mike Lowe commented: “The Hubb Foundation is a great charity doing good around the city. Their HAF programme is an important initiative, supporting vulnerable children in disadvantaged areas and we would encourage other businesses to support this worthwhile programme.”
The Hubb Foundation CEO Adam Yates added: “Stoke-on-Trent is ranked the 14th most deprived city in England according to the 2019 index of deprivation. It currently sits 1st in terms of fuel poverty and has over 35% of the city living in the lowest 10% of poverty in the country. The City also has the highest number of children in care in England. Not only are families in the city struggling with child poverty and fuel poverty, but many families also have to make the tough decision of whether to buy cooking equipment or beds for their children.
“The HAF programme supports around 45,000 children each year and the support from UKSE will allow us to open up more places over the Christmas period. We couldn’t run this programme without the support of businesses like UKSE so we are immensely grateful.”
The UKSE West Midlands team is committed to making a positive impact in the communities it operates in. The support for the Hubb Foundation follows a year of community engagement activity across Stoke- on Trent.
UKSE provided YMCA North Staffordshire with a donation to support a brand-new youth hub recording room at its centre in Hanley. UKSE helped to kit out its recording room with recording equipment to help young people boost their skills and confidence.
Earlier in the year, UKSE partnered with Groundwork West Midlands to enable students from Abbey Hill Academy and College in Stoke-on-Trent to gain valuable employability skills and hands on experience by regenerating an area at Silverdale Country Park.
UKSE supports the local economy by making equity investments, ensuring management stays in control of the business and offers a flexible exit policy. Unsecured loans are also available, often without the need for personal guarantees.
UKSE provides investment in a range of scenarios including business acquisitions, management buyouts, company expansions or the purchase of new equipment. Since it was established in 1975, UKSE has invested over £115m, supporting 8,000 businesses, stimulating the creation of an estimated 83,000 new jobs.