School holidays cost money in ways that don't show up in the sums people usually do — no free school meals, no wraparound care, and six weeks of "can we do something today." Here's what that actually costs, what's free locally if you qualify, and what charity shops are genuinely good for this time of year.
Save the Children found 88% of UK parents say the summer holidays put real financial and emotional pressure on the family, with one in five worried about being able to feed everyone through the break, and an average extra cost of £30–£40 a week just on food. The Felix Project estimates up to 645,000 children could go hungry at some point this summer, and two thirds of teachers in England expect at least one child in their class to go hungry over the holidays — rising to nearly four in ten in the poorest areas.
The Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme runs in Waltham Forest and, via Essex Boys & Girls Clubs, across Essex too — a free meal plus activities for children on benefit-related free school meals, aged 5 to 16. A limited number of extra places go to vulnerable children referred by education, health or social care professionals, though not directly by parents. If you think your child qualifies, apply through your council's free school meals page.
Separately, and open to everyone regardless of eligibility, the Summer Reading Challenge runs free through local libraries every year for ages 4 to 11 — six books, read any way you like, with small rewards along the way. It's one of the few genuinely free things to do with children across the whole summer.
Kids outgrow things faster than most budgets can keep up with, and a lot of what summer needs is exactly the kind of thing that turns up in good condition, cheap, in a charity shop: paperbacks and picture books for the Reading Challenge, buckets and spades, paddling pools, bikes and scooters that have had one summer's use, swimwear and sun hats. Board games and jigsaws are usually a fraction of the shop price too — just check the box for missing pieces before you buy. None of it needs to be new to do its job for eight weeks.
Six weeks is a lot of "I'm bored," and secondhand bric-a-brac is low-stakes enough that it doesn't matter if a project goes wrong. A few that work well with what actually turns up on the shelves:
The other direction matters too — if your own kids have grown out of last year's summer things, donating them means another family gets the same saving you would have. It's worth letting children in on that part rather than just doing it for them: looking after a toy or a game well enough that it can be donated, not binned, is a genuinely useful thing for a child to understand — someone else gets to enjoy it, and the shop gets something it can actually sell for its cause. Small, concrete, and easier for a child to grasp than an abstract idea of "helping others."
See the directory for what's currently accepted near you, and our guide to preparing clothes that raise the most if you're sorting a bag before you go.
If a full sort-through feels like more than you can face on top of everything else this summer, hands-on help is available too. And if things are tighter than a few charity shop finds can fix, here's real, named crisis support across this area.