Free school meals holiday vouchers ending, worried about affording holiday outings

[elliejjtiny]

Free school meals holiday vouchers are going.

I know people are going to say don't have children you can't afford etc etc.

But when our youngest was born dh had a good job, I was a SAHM and we could afford stuff.

We can still afford to feed us and the dc but those vouchers meant we could afford to go out once in the school holidays. Not to alton towers or anything like that but somewhere local like an interactive museum or soft play. These outings mean so much as the dc are getting older and I am conscious that our time with them being able to do stuff like this is running out. Our food shopping bill goes up a lot during the holidays as well.

I wouldn't mind if we could use the HAF scheme as that would give the dc the opportunity to go out and do something fun but we can't because of the dc SEN.

https://www.pinkun.com/news/national/uk-today/25961723.kids-eat-free-easter-2026---full-uk-list-kids-dining-deals/

Is you 19 year old working and contributing to the household or is he at uni? So does your husband only work about 1 day a week if you earn low enough for free school meals? If he can’t work full time why doesn’t he look after kids and you work full time? If you can’t work much with your kids additional needs why don’t you get a job as a school lunchtime assistant and earn a bit of money but you’ll be home for school runs and school hols?

I think @elliejjtiny is saying that three of her children qualify for the vouchers usually, so that would be £45 per week towards food. That means £45 could be diverted towards family activity. But if the vouchers stop, she'll have to use the £45 for food and they won't be able to go out.

To be fair, posters who are asking why DH can't work aren't necessarily right. The way FSMs work is on an 'ever 6' basis, which means that if they received benefits that qualified for FSM at any point, they continue to receive FSM until they finish that phase of education. That's stopping in July though.

Some of our local churches are putting on free activities, you don't have to be Christian to join in.
The National Trust are also doing free inter active activities for children in various areas.

"A lot of these schemes are ending to coincide with the two child benefit being lifted from next month"

From September, all pupils who live in families in receipt of any level of Universal Credit will be entitled to free school meals. I think it's likely to be that which has prompted the cessation of the holiday vouchers.

I hadn’t heard about the vouchers stopping and have two DC who normally get them. Is this a nationwide thing?

I get that it’s difficult, your kids are at an age where they’re not going to be interested in a woodland walk or a play park, and will all have different interests and complex needs. It’s very hard when you can’t do things you would have been able to before.

You mentioned soft play but your kids sound too old for this now, what kind of things do they enjoy doing. We might be able to think of something more suitable for older kids/teens.

I imagine so because from September all families on UC will be entitled to FSM for their children.

I think the issue here is that OP’s DC are not primary school age. Our council puts on lots of activities for families whose children are in receipt of FSM, but these won’t suit OP.

Not even her younger children? The art or nature ones? The art galleries and museums?
Maybe if she gives us a rough idea of her area we can give her ideas.

Pretty sure it's council based too because I receive benefits and have not got this before.

It's usually only for those who receive free school meals for their children which is a small earning amount until it changes in September anyway.

Check your Council's Family Information Service to see what they can connect you with locally.

There are holiday clubs with a free meal, google Haf booking lab. You only get four sessions in the Easter though

It’s not enough to be on benefits You have to also earn less than 7 grand a year.

If on UC, you can request a small loan? You can say it’s for a new fridge or a cooker or something. I’ve had to do similar in my hour of need.

Does anyone know what will happen to the Haf clubs when this happens? Surely there won’t be enough spaces?

Try looking at what local churches are offering if primary age and you are not totally against that.

I don't think anything has been confirmed with them yet. First come first served would be my best guess if they don't scrap them.

I guess this will be the last summer, I can’t see it being easy to book a place when half the parents in the country are doing it lol

Actually, I've just had a quick look and it seems like even though more children will get FSM from September, Haf clubs will only be applicable to those who would qualify for it as it is currently.

Holiday activities and food programme 2026 to 2027 financial year - GOV.UK

Local offer. Ours has a "short breaks" scheme for SEN which has been stripped to the bone and is now being funneled towards those with lowest income only, but it is worth a try.

Losing those vouchers is going to be a real blow and I'm sorry about that. However I do think there are not a lot of families doing soft play or interactive farms with children age 11+. It's hard to find activities for teens, SEN or not. Mine have grown out of most of the outings that worked when they were little. They don't want to go to free stuff at museums etc. Money does help of course and some teens will continue to join in, but I think it's also quite normal to not do "family outings" in the same way with teens.

Vue £5 cinema tickets might be worth a go especially if you can get a 2 for 1 deal eg meercat Tuesdays. Talking to SEN parent groups locally as PP suggested is your best bet - tap into the local grapevine.i

What would your children like to do? My daughter is 13 and she’s over most fun family days out really. With 4 teenagers and an 11 year old I’d think a lot of family activities aren’t really going to work anymore so am curious what would work best for you all?

My daughter is autistic and we get disability for her. Which means she gets half price theatre tickets and a carer ticket to the zoo and a few other things. Could your kids do blue peter to get anything? Our local zoo has free admission for blue peter kids (though think your youngest is maybe the only one who is the right age?)

I don’t think a lot of teenagers do interactive museums or soft play though so maybe you can afford to just take the youngest?

Friend gets £10 fo one child

and has to be spent in a shop for food so Tesco also Asda etc

she wouldn’t be able to use it for soft play

get a national trust membership. Think it’s £12 a month - for a family - that includes 10 kids

I use ours every school holiday

Can you sign up for Olio, or the too good to go ones? We have hundreds in our area it's generally just a short walk and you get tons of free food. It's a lottery as to what you get but always lots of bread milk and vegetables that can be used for soups etc