Impacto ambiental

Part A of this study examined the geographic location of holiday clubs and explored whether holiday provision in England is located in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods of England. It provided a unique contribution to research on holiday provision and, to the author’s knowledge, this is the first attempt of a census of holiday clubs, located in England, established for the purpose of providing support to low income families during the school holiday period. It is evident from the findings that a range of organisations are responsible for delivering holiday provision and these are operating within economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England.

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Part A of this study examined the location of holiday clubs at the household level to identify if these clubs are located in areas of greatest need and operating in an inclusive manner. Whilst the findings did not establish an association between the average household income, the proportion of single parent unemployed households and the odds of a holiday club in a neighbourhood, it established that the deprivation affecting children variable is associated with the probability of a holiday club in a neighbourhood. Thus, the findings suggest that holiday clubs that are focused on reducing holiday hunger are located in neighbourhoods in areas of high child deprivation. This finding supports prior research demonstrating that foodbanks are increasingly playing a greater role by providing food to households with children, particularly in areas where child deprivation is high (Lambie-Mumford & Green, 2017). Previous research on the supply of voluntary sector

organisations highlight the risk of ‘voluntary sector failure’ and the lack of civic activity in areas of greatest need (Mohan, 2011; Salamon, 1987; Salamon & Toepler, 2015), nevertheless findings from Part A of this study, demonstrate that holiday clubs are located in the most economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Therefore, these findings, to some extent, support an empirical study carried out by Clifford (2012) who mapped the location of third sector organisations by the Index of Multiple Deprivation in England. Clifford (2012) identified that whilst there is an unevenness of supply and a prevalence of formal voluntary organisations located in less deprived areas, the relationship is nonlinear and the most deprived communities of all have a slightly higher number of voluntary organisations than those who are slightly less deprived. The distribution of voluntary organisations in areas of neighbourhood deprivation depends upon the size of the

organisation, whether the organisation receives government funding and the type of advocacy work delivered by the organisation (Clifford, 2012). Clifford (2012) argues that voluntary organisations involved in public services are more prevalent in the most deprived areas. The findings from this study are consistent with the research undertaken by Clifford (2012) demonstrating that holiday clubs, operated by local authorities and schools, have the highest odds of being located in a neighbourhood with high levels of childhood deprivation. Whilst holiday clubs, regardless of the type of provider, are found to be located in areas of greatest need, the findings suggest that additional government support would enhance and sustain provision in the most deprived areas (Clifford, 2012).

Although holiday clubs are found to be located in areas with high child deprivation, the results for ethnicity are more mixed. As the proportion of non-English / British residents increases in a neighbourhood, the odds of a holiday club run by local authorities or schools increases whereas the inverse is true for neighbourhoods with holiday clubs run by voluntary or community groups and church and faith groups. These findings, to some extent, support existing literature on the accessibility of community food aid delivered by faith based groups within ethnically diverse communities in North East England (Power, Doherty, Small, et al., 2017). Power et al.'s (2017)

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study of food aid in Bradford identified that most faith providers of community food aid are Christian organisations and there are a few organisations providing food aid specifically for Muslim communities despite the demographic context of the city. This raises the issue of whether ethnic groups are excluded from this provision (Power et al., 2017). Conversely, other literature suggests that in communities with a large proportion of ethnic groups, an ethnic ‘group density’ effect on health exists; ethnic groups from low socioeconomic status benefit from better health outcomes than other disadvantaged groups due to the support networks within their communities (Pickett & Wilkinson, 2008). It is, therefore, possible that these support networks reduce food insecurity among certain ethnic groups. Despite a possible ‘group density’ effect, it is evident that Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups have the highest rates of poverty and are more likely to

experience persistent poverty and material deprivation compared to white ethnic groups in the UK (Baranard et al., 2017).

In addition to identifying the geographical location of holiday clubs, Part A of this study explored the need for holiday provision and how holiday provision is implemented and delivered, more specifically, investigated the types of organisations responsible for delivering holiday provision, how families access this provision and the challenges experienced by organisations in establishing and delivering holiday clubs.

Findings from the survey demonstrate that holiday clubs are located across all regions of the UK although there are a concentration of holiday clubs in London and North East England. This is unsurprising given that previous research conducted by Beatty and Fothergill (2014) identified London Boroughs and the older industrial areas of England, which includes North East England, as among the regions hit hardest by the welfare reforms since 2010. The findings also demonstrate that a diverse range of organisations are responsible for delivering holiday provision. These include the voluntary sector, local authorities, schools and churches. Despite the involvement of local authorities and schools in delivering holiday provision, the findings illustrate that an absence of statutory provision from central government, has given rise to a grassroots response to delivering holiday clubs - over half of all holiday clubs are operated by voluntary and community groups or church groups.

Findings from the survey identified a range of needs for low income families during the school holidays. The key needs cited by organisations were food provision, a safe place for children to play and childcare provision. These findings support literature by third sector organisations and all-party parliamentary groups highlighting challenges for low income families during the school holidays due to the lack of FSM provision and the challenge of securing a nutritious meal (Butcher, 2015; Forsey, 2017; Gill & Sharma, 2004) as well as sourcing adequate and affordable childcare (Butcher, 2015). The findings from the survey also identified a need for children to have a safe

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place to play. These three key needs, together with the organisations’ response, will be discussed in this section in further detail.

The most important need identified by organisations for children during the school holidays, was the need for food provision. In the absence of FSM provision during the school holidays,

organisations have recognised and responded to the challenge facing families to obtain affordable, nutritious meals during the school holidays. As a result, over three-quarters of organisations provide food at their holiday club. Whilst a range of meals are offered, the most popular meals are lunch and snacks, and it is common for food to be provided free of charge. The findings support existing evidence that holiday clubs support low-income families and reduce the risk of these families experiencing food insecurity (Long et al., 2017). Nevertheless, the findings demonstrate that further research is required on how food provision is delivered at holiday clubs and the types of meals that are prepared and served to children within holiday club settings.

Holiday clubs not only provide food but also offer a safe place for children to play in a variety of community settings. Since 2011 there has been a reduction in central government funding of 40% to local governments resulting in cuts to local services. These include youth services, leisure facilities and libraries (Local Government Association, 2014). In relation to children, this has resulted in a lack of child specific provision meaning there is a recognised need for more safe places for children to play. The most common settings used by holiday clubs are schools, community centres and church halls. However, it is evident from previous research that certain settings sometimes act as a barrier preventing families from attending. This results from preconceived ideas about particular venues, for instance some families experience stigma from attending a holiday club located in a church hall (Defeyter et al., 2015). Within holiday clubs, organisations offer a range of structured activities; the most popular activities are craft or art activities, physical activities, cookery and off-site activities or visits. In addition, some holiday clubs offer support to parents through the provision of off- or on-site advisory services. This finding is consistent with research by Defeyter et al. (2015) which identified that holiday clubs offer additional support to families beyond food and activities and can help with accessing other services. Therefore, it is evident that holiday clubs are providing a range of services to

communities, services that were traditionally provided by local authorities.

The third need identified by organisations for families and children during the school holidays is childcare provision. This finding is consistent with previous studies illustrating the inadequacies in holiday childcare (Cameron et al., 2016; Diss & Jarvie, 2016). The most notable gaps identified in childcare provision are for children aged 12 years or over, families living in rural areas and

children with special educational needs and disabilities (Cameron et al., 2016). Nevertheless, findings from this study illustrate that whilst the majority of holiday clubs operate during the longer

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summer school holidays, the availability of holiday provision is not consistent throughout the year; outside the summer holidays there is a sporadic approach towards the provision of care and

services offered by holiday clubs. Further research is therefore required to identify the target demographic for holiday clubs and to determine if children of all ages have access to holiday provision. Furthermore, additional research is required to establish the number of sessions delivered by holiday clubs throughout the week to ascertain the adequacy of this type of provision for parents to maintain their working and caring commitments throughout the school holiday period.

To deal with the complex nature of delivering a range of activities and food provision, it is evident that the majority of organisations have adopted a collaborative approach and work with partner agencies to deliver holiday provision. Findings from this study illustrate that organisations work with schools, council departments, third sector organisations, sports organisations and food suppliers to help deliver a range of activities and food to families during the school holidays.

The results from this study demonstrate the inclusiveness of holiday provision for low income families with the majority of organisations delivering their provision free at the point of use. Nevertheless, it is unsurprising organisations cite sufficient funding as a challenge to delivering adequate holiday provision. Securing funding is becoming increasingly competitive for third sector organisations (Hardill & Baines, 2011). Moreover, a recent survey of third sector organisations in the north of England highlighted that community and voluntary organisations, located in the most deprived areas, are most likely to be struggling financially (Chapman & Hunter, 2017).

Findings from this study identified that over half of organisations offer their provision on a universal basis whereas the remaining organisations adopt a referral process and use partner agencies, i.e. schools and family support teams, to target families in need to attend their provision. Organisations cited engaging with families and poor attendance rates at their clubs as challenges to provision of their holiday services. Previous research has also demonstrated the challenge of engaging low income families to access holiday provision as well as the stigma associated with a targeted provision or promoting the provision as a feeding scheme (Defeyter et al., 2015; Forsey, 2017; McConnon et al., 2017).

The findings from the survey also demonstrate that families are required to make their own travel arrangements to the holiday club and less than a fifth of organisations (N=31) provide their own transport facilities. As previously discussed, this makes the geographical location of the holiday club particularly important to ensure the accessibility for families living in the most disadvantaged communities.

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In addition to the challenges of funding and attendance figures, highlighted by organisations, an additional barrier identified by the providers was the recruitment of staff. Research undertaken by third sector organisations illustrated the need for holiday clubs to be run by skilled staff if they are to successfully deliver a range of enrichment activities and support the needs of children and families (McConnon et al., 2017). Further research into staffing is required to gain a better understanding of this area.

Findings from Part A of this study identified a range of perceived needs for holiday provision and the examined ways in which organisations are supporting families in communities with these needs. The findings also highlighted areas for further research into the delivery of holiday provision.