Has anyone noticed a lot of the summer camps for poor children are in expensive villages miles away from where a lot of poor kids actually live?

[Noahide]

The strange thing about the Haf programme in my (not small) town is that the majority of the summer camps are in more expensive villages that are a few miles from here.
Seems strange when most children eligible for Haf have parents who cannot drive and it’s unlikely many children in said expensive villages are eligible.

It might be that the camps are held in places like private schools that shut for the summer and those schools will be rural. An 8 am start is tricky though!

Lots of council housing in these small villages

I assume that OP (being local) knows where the council housing is.

no there’s not. In one village there’s a tiny tiny row of council housing. Built years ago most probably right to buyed by now the few remaining well it’s a secure tenancy and cheap rent which leaves more disposable income than people private renting which I and many Haf parents I speak to are privately renting

Rest (vast majority) are not council houses and cost half a million on rightmove.

No I don't.
It was the OPs wording that originally sounded "off".
However she is using it to describe her own family so I did apologise to her up upthread.

It's not one size fits all though is it.

My children attend a holiday club in town which is majority paid for places but there are HAF spaces available.
Another club they occasionally attend is in a village on the outskirts of a town with a large social housing demographic. All of the places at this club are HAF places. Sometimes there have been as little as five children attending depending on the session running. They also have a problem with no shows not bothering to cancel places which blocks others from attending.

Probably because they want to get the children out of urban centres so they can experience the country and nature and everything it affords (better air, more space to run around, connection with natural world etc, water, fields).

They are already getting it for free... its inconvenient, sure - but beggars can't be choosers.

My friend runs a charity taking disadvantaged children out for the day to different places. Sometimes its the beach, sometimes its a farm - but its all free - even the lunch. Some of the parents STILL harrass her because they cba to take their child on a 5 min bus ride to get to the drop off place. So much so that almost the full cost of these trips are now taxi fares to pick up and drop off at home. Hearing the stories has really made me question humanity.

I have the same experience of HAF groups - there’s only one in my town for teenagers and the rest are over an hour away and only one sports camp for primary children which you had to book as soon as it opened so many people didn’t get places.

OP I have no idea why you are getting such a hard time. It's entirely reasonable to point out that many of the families these camps are trying to help (such as yours) can't actually access the camps due to the lack of public transport. It sounds like a lack of joined up thinking from the council/organisations running the camps. It's obviously great if organisations volunteer to run these schemes, but the funders should check if they are accessible for the families they are aimed at.

So what you are saying is that camps should be in crappy locations simply because they have good transport links?

No, she's clearly saying that the camps should be accessible for the children they are supposed to be helping.

I think this is the problem - rather than the camps being run by the council, who could think about where greatest need is and plan accordingly, it relies on sports clubs, childcare settings and activity providers signing up to offer funded places which results in a bit of a hotch potch of provision.

It’s not a “crappy location” it’s an ordinary large town. I’m just saying it seems strange to have camps for poor kids in expensive little villages miles away when many can’t afford to drive or run a car

What organisations are running the camps? Do they usually operate in those villages?

Good point. It's the same where I live - awkward to get to without a car so could be difficult to those with limited financial means.
I would be someone who would pay but the location and hours mean they are useless to allow me to get to work so my children can't do it either.
I never see them recommended either so perhaps they are quite small/suit very few people. My children tend to attend camps at the local private schools. I'm not sure where these will run if those schools close down as they all seem to be doing at the moment.

My children tend to attend camps at the local private schools. I'm not sure where these will run if those schools close down as they all seem to be doing at the moment.

I always ran them at local state schools and I know several organisations who are still running them there. The ones we ran were music/performing arts based but there were often sports ones running alongside as well.

The holiday camps in large towns are more likely to be aimed at working parents with a price tag of around £70 per day (here, they are, anyway) and likely fully booked or close to being fully booked. I assume the facilities used for these would also come with a hefty price tag so they'd be unlikely to accept council funding for places.

It doesn’t surprise me, sadly. I work in a high school with a similar demographic, and the entitlement is off the scale with these people.
And as the adage goes, you can’t please everyone.

It does sound illogical OP. Especially since you say the camps are often under subscribed.

i wonder whether it’s to do with the cost of the venue hire. Town centre locations are often a far higher price. Or accessibility - if you’re carting football nets, arts & crafts, crates of food etc, you need somewhere that has good access and parking. Or they’re being mindful of the cost of staff getting to locations - if they have to pay town centre parking then that cost either has to be absorbed by the HAF provider or the staff member pays to park for a full day? Or they want to offer venues that have lots of outdoor space.

in my experience, many HAF clubs are run by charities. The grant they receive to run them doesn’t cover all costs. So they have to find the cheapest options in terms of venue, staffing, storing equipment etc.

What I have read is your continued use of the word "poor"

"Poor kids in expensive little villages" ugh the very thought of it. They need to stay in the slums where they belong 😳

That's definitely not true here

There are loads of different HAF options in different places in my area as well!

I live in an “affluent village” and it is a myth that there are few “poor families” in them and those that are here are further disadvantaged that there’s nothing within walking distance, public transport is expensive and irregular and the availability of good quality, but inexpensive food is poor

Have you given feedback to the organisers and explained the logistics challenges?

There must be a reason these locations were chosen, cheapest venue probably.

It's not going to be a conspiracy.

But it would be helpful for you to contact and explain the travel challenges, particularly if it's undersubscribed.

And then next year the council might reconsider the locations