The Discover! programme was established in 2018 to contribute towards closing the poverty-related attainment gap. The programme’s aims are to support children and families during the school holidays to reduce:

• holiday food and financial insecurity
• the poverty related attainment gap
• social isolation and improve wellbeing

What was done

Working with partner organisation Edinburgh Community Food, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Wider Achievement and Lifelong Learning (CLD) Team provide a programme of activity and food for low-income families over the school holidays.

Primary schools make recommendations of P1 to P7 children and their families, who are impacted by poverty, who they believe would benefit from the programme. Applications are received and processed by the Discover! team who then engage with the families and invite them to participate through February, Easter and Summer holidays and October.

The offer to families is an activity programme in one of multiple Hubs across the city. Families take part in a varied range of educational and fun activities which include: music, art, sports and games, cookery and fun science workshops. Local trips and outings are also offered.

The Hubs and activities are staffed by teams of multi-agency professionals from different backgrounds including CLD, youth work, outdoor learning, parent and carer support officers and sessional workers. Free bus tickets are provided to support attendance. Healthy eating is an important aspect of the programme. Families are provided with free breakfast and lunch along with opportunities to participate in live cooking workshops.

In addition to the Hub Activity Programmes, families also benefit from a Discover! food box delivered to their house each week. The box contains fresh fruit and vegetables along with healthy meal recipes and advice from Edinburgh Community Food. Cooking sessions are streamed in a private Facebook group for Discover! families. The Facebook group also provides a platform to share information with families about other free fun activities, opportunities and events that are happening in Edinburgh.

A range of employability, financial and welfare advice, information and support services is offered to parents and carers in partnership with Community Help Advice and Information (CHAI), Welfare Advisors and Home Energy Scotland. Local counsellors offer sessions, and taster sessions are provided by Adult Learning, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), Skills Development Scotland and third sectors partners. Young people are supported to access the BBC’S Microbit course and also the Junior Award Scheme for Schools Award.

Impact

The growing numbers of families participating and looking to get involved in the programme is testament to its popularity. Adults and young people describe growing in confidence from initial nervousness to being more confident and able to mix and build friendships with other families as a result of attending the Hub. In some instances, parents have used social media to create networks with each other out with the programme

Between 350 and 400 families sign up each session. Each week, approximately 380 boxes are delivered to low income families in conjunction with Edinburgh Community Food.

In Summer 2023:

• 637 parents/carers and children attended Discover!
• 2,248 boxes of food ingredients and recipes were delivered by the council transport team and Edinburgh Community Food
• school uniform referrals saved families £23,436

The majority of families consistently report that attending Discover! made a difference to their family in the following ways:

• reducing the financial pressure of food and activities during school holidays
• helping children to learn new things
• spending more quality time together as a family
• helping families eat more healthily
• helping reduce isolation by connecting with other families
• helping reduce family stress

A survey is carried out at the end of every Summer programme to gather feedback directly from parents and carers about their experience of taking part. Focus groups are held with children and their families. Additionally, informal feedback is collected through Facebook groups, emails, cards and messages sent to staff.

See 3 videos on YouTube playlist (see small menu at top right of video).

Next steps

The Discover! programme is continually modified based on feedback from the staff, families and children ahead of the next holiday session. The programme is already well into the planning of the next Discover! session.

Anything you would do differently?

We would advise that you allow plenty of time to consider the provision of venues as well as administrative and business support.

In our experience there is an ongoing challenge to find venues that are consistent and available each holiday session and suitable for the needs of the program. Many schools and centres are undergoing repairs during the holidays.

We have found an ongoing need for administrative and business support not only in organising bookings and venues but also in calling families ahead of each project session in order to maximise engagement and attendance.

Contact

Claire Colston   Claire.Colston@edinburgh.gov.uk