The message below is sent on behalf of Cllr Donna Higgins, Cabinet Member for Families and Communities at West Suffolk Council. This is to advise of our Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) Programme in West Suffolk.
HAF is a national programme funded by the Department for Education and coordinated locally by West Suffolk Council on behalf of Suffolk County Council.
It is primarily targeted at children or young people who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals. Activities are free and sessions include a healthy meal and snacks. Eligible families should have already received information through their school or college about HAF in their area.
There are also free places available to families with children or young people who don’t receive benefits-related free school meals but who are struggling with the cost-of-living and suffering financial hardship. As before, we are allowed to use up to 15 per cent of our local funding to these places available.
This winter are working with 17 providers to offer 1,349 places across 92 sessions taking place in many of our towns and several of our villages.
Our providers will offer a mix of swimming, various sports, arts and crafts, roller skating, outdoor cooking, and more.
They are being targeted in the areas where there is greatest need, ie more students who receive benefits related free school meals.
As before, we recognise there may be a small number of pupils who are eligible and live in areas where there isn’t local provision. These families should have received a letter from their school or college telling them how to book onto the activities on offer in West Suffolk. If transport is an issue, Suffolk County Council may be able to help and if you receive a query relating to this, please ask them to contact HAFenquiries@suffolk.gov.uk
We are always looking at ensuring the right mix of activities across West Suffolk. As always, if there’s a particular organisation you think we could be working with in your area, please email families.communities@westsuffolk.gov.uk and include “HAF” in the subject line.
The programme is already being marketed to children or young people who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals through schools and partner organisations. We will issue a press release and will be posting to social media to ensure people are also aware of the discretionary places for families who are in financial hardship. You can help by sharing these posts, printing and displaying the PDF poster if appropriate as well as including the press release and image in any local websites or newsletters.
Booking is through an online platform called Eequ at Search learning experiences · Eequ which details all the provisions across the county. Schools have been given information to help any parents who cannot access online to book.
Families in West Suffolk applying for discretionary spaces will need prior approval before they apply through the Eequ link, otherwise their application may be rejected. To apply they should contact the activity provider for the activities that they are interested in. These contact details can be seen on the Eequ link. They will also be available on the council’s #westsuffolkwinterhaf25 posts on Facebook and Instagram from 12 December.
Spaces for families in financial hardship are limited and will be decided by Suffolk County Council on a first come first served basis.
West Suffolk Council are encouraging applications for Poll Clerks, Presiding Officers and Count Assistants to work with us at future elections.
A large team of people are needed to help ensure that elections are run efficiently, fairly and securely. Roles with full training and competitive pay are available.
To apply, applicants must be:
Interested applicants can apply online at Working at elections or contact the Elections team at elections@westsuffolk.gov.uk for more information.
A message from West Suffolk Council:-
We are delighted to announce that to make recycling easier and more accessible, we have launched a new recycling initiative to encourage residents and visitors to recycle their small electricals.
There are 18 new small electrical recycling points across the district, installed at existing mini recycling centres in high footfall areas. Please see the list attached for the exact locations.
Residents can locate their nearest recycling point here.
The new collection points can be filled with small electricals including mobile phones, tablets, cables, kettles, toasters and kids toys, anything smaller than a standard sized microwave.
This exciting initiative aligns with West Suffolk Council’s ongoing commitment to environmental resilience and sustainable growth, whilst encouraging positive behavioural change.
This recycling initiative was funded by Material Focus, an independent not-for-profit organisation, who provided £34,822 to support this project.
The items placed in the bins will be collected by Wiser Recycling, with regular updates to West Suffolk Council to measure the impact and effectiveness of the new bins, and with the hope to secure additional funding to encourage a further roll out across the district.
A press release regarding this new initiative has been sent out, and will be followed by social media posts encouraging the community to make use of the collection points.
A message from Cllr Donna Higgins on 14th October 2025.
Our aim is for a thriving West Suffolk for all of our residents.
We know that there are households both in West Suffolk and nationally who are simply surviving. They include residents who for whatever reason, haven’t come forward for the support they can access. It could be pride; it could be that they simply don’t realise that they could ask for support.
That is why West Suffolk Council has set up a Financial Inclusion Service so that, using data, we can target households who we believe may be eligible for support. That will include people who are retired, working and others who are looking to return to work. We can then help them check they are receiving support and to reduce their outgoings such as utility bills wherever possible.
Pension credits
Initially we are targeting households in West Suffolk who we believe may not be claiming their full Pension Credits. The Government estimates that nationally in 2023 £1.5 billion in pension credits went unclaimed. If they successfully apply, they may also be eligible for further help to boost their income.
We are writing to households we have identified. We are also offering 1-1 support over a phone call. Alongside this, we will also be attending community groups, events and activities to promote the support that is available to residents. We have attached a leaflet that can be used to help promote the service locally.
Letters will shortly be arriving at the households in West Suffolk that we have identified as likely to be eligible for unclaimed pension credits. Households that haven’t received a letter can still enquire about Pension Credits at www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/cost-of-living or by phoning West Suffolk Council’s Financial Inclusion Service on 01284 757660.
This is to inform you of a new grant scheme that is being launched today, 30th July 2025, by West Suffolk Council.
The new Go For It grants are part of the delivery of the council’s ambition for a thriving West Suffolk.
The scheme will offer up to £300 of seed funding to help not-for-profit groups deliver improvements to their local area.
Go For It grants will back ideas that will bring residents together, inspire people to get more active, increase participation, support health and wellbeing or respond to local needs through innovation and activities.
This will help toward the delivery of the council’s strategic priority for Thriving Communities.
The grant may be used to support start-up costs such as equipment, venue hire, promotional materials, transport and more.
The scheme which is backed using £10,000 of funds allocated to the council from Central Government from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
There is no deadline for applications although once all of the money is allocated the scheme will close.
I’ve attached printable posters with a QR code as well as social media / website graphics. More details including terms and conditions and how to apply, can be found at
www.westsuffolk.gov.uk/community/community-grants.cfm
Please click here for more information.
Please click here for more information.
Please find attached a digital leaflet regarding the funding opportunities for domestic energy efficiency upgrades West Suffolk Council are promoting
Please click here for more information.
More Suffolk households can access free home improvements to make them warmer, healthier and cheaper to run, thanks to Warm Homes Suffolk.
Residents and landlords of eligible properties can apply for energy efficient measures such as insulation, solar panels or heat pumps.
Average funding of £18,000 is available for homeowners, and £12,000 for landlords and their tenants.
Warm Homes Suffolk is administered by Suffolk County Council, and delivered by East Suffolk Council, on behalf of all councils in Suffolk. It has been funding home energy efficiency improvements for two years, with funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
To be eligible, both of these conditions must be met:
And then either of the following conditions:
Once these conditions have been approved, an assessment of your home will identify which measures are best suited to your property. These will then be installed by trusted contactors, for free.
Please click here for more information
It is important that any issue that is deemed to be dangerous to either private property, the highway or any of its users is telephoned through on 0345 606 6171 so that they can be immediately assessed and action taken quickly.
Any report logged via our reporting tool will generate a site visit from one of our Highways Assessment Officers. Although they do triage incoming reports, anything logged with them out of hours will not be picked up until the next working day – which as you will appreciate will lead to a delay in attendance. The Councillor Highways Support email address is also not monitored outside of office hours and should not be used for anything that is considered an emergency.
Could I also please ask that you encourage residents to supply any photographs they may have – particularly in cases of drainage or flooding problems – as in many cases, the flood water will have subsided by the time our Teams attend.
Please let me assure you that all reports are assessed and the sites visited – but it is vital that they are logged in the correct way so that we can respond in a timely manner – and so that these are assigned to the most appropriate team within Suffolk Highways:
Please click here for more information.
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To view a full list of all upcoming bus timetable changes please click here.
