Posted on Tuesday 3rd September 2024
Mark Sutton, cabinet member for children and young people, at the Furry Friends Therapy HAF event during the summer holidays.
Thousands of children and young people have enjoyed a range of exciting activities this summer as part of Staffordshire’s Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme.
The summer HAF programme offered more than 50,000 sessions at clubs located at more than 100 venues across Staffordshire.
Over 4,000 children participated in activities such as arts and crafts, mindfulness, sensory activities, go-karting, swimming, sports, building robots, STEM activities, archery, nerf games and many more.
Children were offered unforgettable experiences including horse riding, interacting with animals, safari days and a ‘Harry Potter’ day.
Providers also offered a nutritious, healthy meal as part of their sessions from local partners and educating children about the importance of a balanced diet.
Furry Friends Therapy, based in Stone, is one of this year’s new providers on the HAF programme, offering an animal therapy service for young people across Staffordshire. As part of their summer programme of activities, children got to interact with a variety of different animals from therapy dogs and ponies to guinea pigs and rabbits.
The children also took part in a range of forest school activities, including arts and crafts, outdoor games and sports.
Daisy, aged nine, who participated in the Furry Friends Therapy sessions said:
“I’ve been here five or six times, and I absolutely love it! It’s calming to play with the dogs and groom the horses. The people here are also really nice, I’d tell lots of kids to come here.”
Councillor Mark Sutton, cabinet member for children and young people at Staffordshire County Council said:
“It was fantastic to see HAF back in action this summer. It has been wonderful to visit some of the sessions across the county, seeing first-hand the amazing work that our providers do to deliver a range of worthwhile, engaging activities that help children’s development.
“It was my first visit to Furry Friends Therapy and it was lovely to see so many children learning and interacting with the animals on site.
“I've seen so many happy smiley faces, children learning from one another, laughing together and having so much fun – and that’s exactly what our HAF programme is all about.”
The HAF winter programme will be back in December over the Christmas break. For more information, visit www.staffordshire.gov.uk/holidayactivities.