Implementing Holiday Provision Programmes: A Qualitative Investigation of the Experiences of Senior Stakeholders

Mann, Emily, Widdison, Clara and Defeyter, Greta (2020) Implementing Holiday Provision Programmes: A Qualitative Investigation of the Experiences of Senior Stakeholders. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 8 (7). pp. 286-302. ISSN 2327-5952

Preview

Text jss_2020072410293134.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (372kB) | Preview

Abstract

Holiday provision is a grassroots response to support low-income families during the school holidays with the provision of free food and activities. This qualitative study investigates the views of senior stakeholders (N = 15) who are responsible for facilitating or implementing programmes of holiday provision to determine the need for holiday provision, examples of best practice for delivering programmes of holiday provision and barriers for effective delivery. The findings identified a need for holiday provision as a result of cuts to welfare provision and local authority services which have increased pressures on household budgets. Senior stakeholders advocated a collaborative and flexible model of holiday provision and identified the need to utilize and develop existing community assets to deliver this provision, Yet, senior stakeholders acknowledged multiple barriers of delivery related to cost, sustainability and organizational capacity and, in the absence of a strategic response and sustained funding by national, regional and local governments, there are questions of whether this type of approach truly addresses and targets all of the most vulnerable in society.

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads