Over 100 Preston children benefited from free meals and activities in the lead up to Christmas.

Preston North End Community and Education Trust was one of nine providers of the Winter Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme in the city last month.

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The Trust supported 108 children daily over four days during the first week of half-term.

The children experienced three exciting day trips to different venues – watching a Cinderella pantomime, visiting the Flip Out Trampolining Centre and enjoying a Christmas party at PlayFootball Preston – while still receiving free lunches.

The engaging activities are designed to keep children safe and prevent them from becoming socially isolated.

The Trust also delivered a specialist HAF programme to children from Sir Tom Finney Community High School, in which children enjoyed similar activities, as well as having a festive lunch served at Morrisons Riversway and then receiving a further lunch for the following day.

PNECET delivered the HAF programme for the first time last summer, reaching 217 children daily across six different sites in Preston.

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Head of Community Engagement Rebecca Robertson said: “It was fantastic to support so many young people with our Winter HAF programme in December.

“As a change from the summer programme, it was really enjoyable for the children involved to experience some exciting activities and day trips as part of the programme, which they might not otherwise have been able to attend.

“There were plenty of smiling faces on our visits and we hope that our programme will have given those involved some happy and memorable experiences at Christmas time.”

HAF is a government programme that provides free meals for children outside of term time who ordinarily access free school meals while they are at school.

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