Families face £1,045 bill for summer holiday clubs

5 hours ago

By Vanessa Clarke, Education reporter, BBC News

BBC A child with long, light brown hair, and a yellow and blue top, has her arm around another child with black curly hair. They're both smiling and sitting on a wooden floor inside a holiday club.

Families paying for holiday clubs this summer now face a bill of £1,045 for six weeks’ care for one child – a rise of 6%.

A survey of councils across Great Britain, by charity Coram Family and Childcare, also suggests a shortage of places – particularly affecting children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Providers say they are trying to keep costs down as they struggle with staff shortages.

The government says it is providing support to families.

‘Low-paid job’

In Birmingham, Harborne School’s Out owner Claire Johnson is expecting a busy summer – her club has been booked up for months.

“With the people I have turned away, I could run a completely new club but I don’t have the staff or a big enough venue,” she says.

During term time, Mrs Johnson runs an after-school club, because three of the local primary schools’ clubs are completely full.

And whenever she has to raise prices, it is a “really big decision” – including this year, when the cost of a full day, from 07:30 to 17:30, will rise from £35 to £38.

“It is already a low-paid job for staff, so it is very much a passion for everybody who works in the sector,” Mrs Johnson says.

grey placeholder — Claire Johnson says her half-term clubs in October and February next year are already filling up

BBC/ANN GANNON Claire Johnson, who wears a light denim jacket and navy blue polo shirt, is holding a clipboard and rummaging in her pocket with her right hand as she stands at the fire exit door of her holiday club. She has blonde hair tied up in a bun, and wears black-rimmed glasses. — Claire Johnson says her half-term clubs in October and February next year are already filling up

At pick-up time, John and Katriona Virgo say the holiday and after-school club in Harborne has been “fantastic”, particularly on election day, when the school turned into a polling station and it ran a last-minute holiday club.

Their summer will involve clubs, annual leave and grandparents happy to help – “with a little persuasion”.

Across Great Britain, the average cost for a child in full-time holiday clubs for six weeks was now a record £1,045, Coram found.

Compared with last year, the data suggests, prices have risen:

5% in England
4% in Scotland
15% in Wales

“Too many families dread the onset of the summer holidays,” Coram Family and Childcare managing director Ellen Broomé says.

“Finding a place will be a challenge this summer, particularly for children with special educational needs and disabilities.”

Event manger and public-speaking coach Dani Wallace, who has three children, describes the summer holidays as “organised chaos”.

Holiday clubs are unaffordable. “It’s just not feasible when there’s three of them”, Ms Wallace says.

None of the clubs caters for her eldest son’s additional needs. In the past, he has found them “noisy and quite intimidating”.

And she has to rely on family to help out.

“It’s been a real struggle over the years to find what works for us,” Ms Wallace says.

Emma Stirk and Dani Wallace smile at the camera and each have their hands cupped around mugs of tea — Business owners Emma Stirk and Dani Wallace use whiteboards and Post-it notes to plan the chaos the holidays bring

For solicitor and positive-psychology coach Emma Stirk, holiday clubs have been a lifeline.

But this year, prices in Yorkshire, where she lives, have risen by 13% – the biggest jump in England.

During the summer, her whiteboard comes out and Ms Stirk fills in the days she is taking off, those her husband is on leave and the ones her two children attend clubs.

“Some of the clubs are between £30, £40, £50 – multiplied by two – and you’ve got lunch and getting them to and from it,” she says.

“Plus, the clubs we used were sort of 09:00 till 15:00, so by the time you’ve taken them somewhere, you’ve not got a full working day done.”

It has been a difficult few years for the sector, following the pandemic, when many out-of-school clubs closed their doors.

‘Struggling financially’

The Out of School Alliance, which represents providers, says the picture is mixed across the country.

“We hear about availability being down – but I’ve got providers who are talking to us about how their demand is so low they haven’t recovered past Covid,” chief executive Rebekah Jackson Reece says.

“They are really struggling financially due to increased rents, lack of ability to find staff and schools becoming inherently more interested in running their own provision as their budgets are squeezed.”

There needs to more understanding of parents’ needs and matching that with existing provision, Ms Reece adds.

Two pupils in a classroom draw on a whiteboard. The boy nearest the camera has curly brown hair and is drawing a spider using a black pen. His class-mate has partly-shaved hair and is drawing something with green ink. — Wales has seen the largest price rise – 15%

The Welsh government said it offered three- and four-year-olds of eligible parents 30 hours’ funded childcare up to 48 weeks a year.

“During the summer holidays, we are funding the Playworks scheme, which provides high-quality play, and the Food and Fun scheme will be available in every local authority area,” an official said.

The Scottish government said it had announced a £16m investment in six communities, to understand what it took to deliver year-round local childcare systems.

“A further £4m has been invested in the Extra Time Programme, a joint initiative with the Scottish Football Association, to provide up to 3,000 free places per week at before- and after-school clubs, and holiday clubs, for children from families on low incomes,” an official added.

The Department for Education in England said local authorities were expected to offer the equivalent of six weeks’ Holiday Activities and Food Programme provision, which provides meals, activities and free childcare places to children from low-income families.

“Too often, childcare is unavailable or unaffordable, particularly for disadvantaged children or those with additional needs – and we are determined to rebuild opportunity for every child,” an official said.