Not all families look forward to the summer holidays, as many children are at home with no access to stimulating activities to occupy them during the break from school. Holiday poverty is a real issue as parents worry about providing extra meals, snacks and the high cost of days out.
To take action and help combat holiday poverty, we launched our third Bags of Summer project, where we provided backpacks full of toys, activities and summer essentials to children who are at risk of being without during the summer break.


These backpacks were designed to provide families with the tools they need to keep their children entertained and engaged during the summer break, especially on rainy days when outdoor activities may not be possible. We filled backpacks with various items including toys, books, games, puzzles, arts/craft, as well as those summer must haves including sun-cream and reusable water bottles. Raich Carter, Everyone Active, provided us with 250 free family swim passes to go in our holiday packs. This gave families a chance to have a family day out to look forward to.
Our aim was to alleviate the financial burden that many families face during the summer months by providing the backpacks for free. The packs were available to families were struggling to make ends meet and didn’t not have the resources to provide their children with activities during the school holidays.


This year, having distributed 505 children summer activity packs, the bags of summer project was a huge success. This made a huge impact on many children and supported the wellbeing of many parents and carers over the holidays.