Chartwells has completed another successful summer supporting the Government’s Holiday Activities and Food programme (HAF), delivering free interactive cooking and nutrition workshops to over 3,500 children and adults during the school holidays for the eighth consecutive year.
Forming part of its educational Beyond the Chartwells Kitchen programme, the sessions were delivered in collaboration with its partner schools, local councils, community groups, and charities across almost 80 different locations. Key regional partner organisations included Make Lunch, Feeding Britain, Leicester Tigers Foundation, BCFC Foundation, CHOMP Brighton, Teamtheme Kent, and Junior Adventures Group.
With a record engagement of more than 100 days, children and families were able to enjoy learning about the importance of making nutritious food choices, eating a balanced diet, and trying new foods. Children took part in a range of enriching activities, preparing healthy and delicious foods followed by a chance to enjoy what they have made.
These sessions had a significant impact on food education: over half (52.2%) of children were introduced to a food they had not tried before1. These also delivered a 113% increase in confidence in eating different foods after taking part in the workshops2.
Chartwells’ nutritionists delivered interactive workshops based on the Eatwell Guide, with the most popular sessions being fruit kebabs, yoghurt bowls, energy balls, and rainbow wraps.
Nichola McAvoy, Head of Social Value at Chartwells, commented: “We are proud to have been part of the HAF programme for another year. We know how important the programme is for many families during the school holidays and by partnering with local organisations, we’re able to go beyond term time to engage communities.
"Year after year, it’s encouraging to see families continue to take part in food education and learn about food and nutrition.”
Chartwells is committed to providing young people with food education both during and outside of term time and has supported holiday clubs since 2018. Throughout the academic year of 2025–2026, the leading education caterer delivered over 135 HAF days and positively impacted 4,762 people.