21 freebies and discounts for parents this summer holiday including food and childcare

PARENTS can get thousands of pounds worth of free support to ease some of the cost pressures during the summer holidays.

From free childcare hours to food vouchers, as well as summer clubs and extra benefits, there is plenty of help available.

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Here is a round-up of what you can get…

1. Free tennis

Families can play tennis for free at tennis courts in London, Manchester, Glasgow and many other towns and cities across Britain thanks to Barclays Free Park Tennis.

Find your nearest at lta.org.uk/free-park-tennis/.

Whatever your age or ability, Barclays Free Park Tennis is open to anyone looking to get started, improve their skills and enjoy free tennis.

2. Free football

Kellogg’s are also offering 30,000 free places at football camps across the UK. 

To secure their place, parents need buy a box of Kellogg’s cereal and use the on-pack QR code to sign up. Head to kelloggsfc.com to find a full list of over 150 camp locations.  

Parkplay is a nationwide scheme offering two hours of free community ball play Saturday mornings in a park or public space

3. Free exercise classes

Nuffield Health offers free girls fitness classes run by expert instructors.

Book at nuffieldhealth.com/movetogether  if you have a Nuffield gym near you.

4. Free run clubs

Junior Parkruns are a series of 2km jogs held all over the country for ages four to 14.

They are free to join and a great way to get kids moving.

5. Free clubs and food

Families who receive free school meals can access the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.

This is offered by most councils in England to help provide childcare, activities and healthy meals to children from low-income families.

It can be used to sign up children to sports, music and arts clubs, as well as enjoy a nutritious meal each day for free.

The help on offer varies by council. For example, in some areas you could be offered holiday club places for the equivalent of at least four hours a day.

Others may run a standard 8am-3pm day for free.

Contact your local authority to see exactly what is available and how to apply.

6. Free food eating out

A number of restaurants run ‘kids eat free’ schemes over the holidays including summer.

The exact terms of each scheme varies and some are better value than others so check the small print.

Often, you’ll need to buy an adult meal of spend a certain amount.

But it’s a great way to save on enjoying a meal out with the family at venues including Ask Italian, Asda, Tesco, Bills and Bella Italia.

7. Free vouchers for healthy food

The Healthy Start scheme supports pregnant people and families with young children to help them afford healthy groceries, including fruit, vegetables, and milk.

The scheme is a weekly allowance of £4.25 for people over 10 weeks pregnant, £8.50 for the first year of a child’s life, and £4.25 a week for children aged one to four.

That’s as much as £442 worth of essentials over the year for each child

Eligibility is based on income levels and entitlement to means-tested
benefits such as Universal Credit or:

• Child tax credits (only if your family’s annual income is £16,190 or less)
• Income support
• Income-based jobseeker’s allowance
• Pension credit (which includes the child addition)
• Universal Credit (only if your family’s take-home pay is £408 or less per month from employment)

For more information or to apply, visit www.healthystart.nhs.uk.

8. Free nappies

Parents can get free nappies by signing up and testing nappies for Pampers.

Head to the Pampers’ website to sign up, you’ll have to fill in your personal details, including your home address.

Once you’ve registered, you can use your Pampers Squad membership and apply for all projects.

If you regularly buy Pampers nappies, it’s also worth joining its Pampers clubs where you’ll get points for every pack you buy.

These can then be traded in for free packs in future.

9. Free books

Don’t forget about your local library if you’re looking for freebies to help entertain the kids over the summer.

Of course, you don’t keep the books but you can rent them for free giving you enough time to read and enjoy.

Many libraries also put on weekly story time sessions for free or oter activties.

10. Free train travel

Kids under 11 can travel for free across London using the TFL network including buses and tubes when travelling with a paying adult.

And children under 5 can travel for free on most train services.

Furthermore, if you’re planning a day out and travelling by train you can get 2 for 1 tickets at a number of venues.

11. Free days out

Lots of UK attractions offer big discounts or even free tickets to people who receive Universal Credit or other benefits.

This means you can enjoy visits to some of the most famous historical landmarks, museums and zoos with your family this summer.

We’ve compiled a list of some of the best spots.

12. Free trail walks

Forestry England runs free trails, as well as summer activities in forests up and down the country.

You can download a Wallace & Gromit themed walking trail or families can have a magical woodland adventure with Stick Man, the beloved character from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s popular book.

The specially designed activity trails, running across 26 forests in England, invite young explorers to help Stick Man find his way back to the family tree.

13. Free museums

There are plenty of free museums to visit across the UK, which is a great resource to tap into, especially when the weather isn’t great.

In London some of the top museums can be accessed without paying a penny including The National History Museum and The Science Museum.

14. £1 cinema tickets

The whole family can head to the flicks as Cineworld brings back amazing family films for £1 per ticket.

Running every week until the end of August, the films are family friendly so you can enjoy magical cinema moments together.

15. Free workshops

A few retailers put on free workshops for kids over the holidays.

Pets at Home runs activities where little ones can learn and meet small animals. See petsathome.com/workshops.

Garden centre chain Dobbies also runs its Little Seedlings Clubs with free workshops on a range of gardening topics suitable for children aged 4-10 years. See dobbies.com/events.

Ikea loyalty members can also book on to free workshops for children but these do tend to be popular so you’ll need to move quick. Dates and events vary by store look up your neatest at ikea.com.

John Lewis is another store that has free events for members, some of which can be suitable for kids.

16. Free farm visits

You can visit farms across the country for cheap or free entry.

Check out Swansea Community Farm, Bath City Farm, Heeley City Farm in Sheffield and Balsall City Farm in Birmingham, as well as different farms in London.

17. Free childcare

Parents in England can get free childcare of up to 30 hours as week for children aged between nine months and four years old.

However, this is limited to 38 weeks of the year to coincide with term times.

But if you need childcare during the school holidays, you can often stretch out the help by taking fewer hours over more weeks.

This means summer holidays costs won’t come as such a shock.

Ask your childcare provider about stretching out the help.

Currently, the exact amount you can get depends on your child’s age and circumstances, whether you’re working and your income.

If your child is nine months to two years old, you can get 15 hours per week of free childcare.

Three to four-year-olds can get 30 hours per week for free.

But from September this year, all eligible working parents of children aged nine months up to three years will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare a week.

If you don’t work, you might still be eligible for the same amount of free childcare if your partner is working and you’re on carer’s leave or if you get any of the following benefits:

• Incapacity Benefit
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Limited Capability for Work Benefit
• Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

You can use a calculator on the gov website here to work out how much you can get.

If you claim Universal Credit, you might be able to get help towards most of your child care costs.

Parents claiming Universal Credit can now get up to £1,014.63 a month for one child and £1,739.37 for two or more kids.

The money is used to cover up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs. 

18. Tax-free childcare

Working parents can get hep with childcare costs through tax-free childcare.

This is often used to pay for nursery place or after-school clubs.

But what you may not realise is that it can be used for a whole host of childcare providers, including those which runs during the school holidays.

The government scheme gives £2 free for every £8 put into an account, which is then used to pay providers.

Parents can get up to a maximum of £2,000 a year per child or £4,000 if their child is disabled.

This can be a huge help in the cost of care, so it’s worth looking specifically for childcare providers who accept payments from childcare accounts over the holidays.

19. Child tax credits

You can make a claim for child tax credit if you already get working tax credit.

The amount you could get depends on when your children were born.

If you have two children born after April 6, 2017, you will get a child element worth £3,455 for each kid up to a maximum of two.

If one child was born before then you could also get a basic amount called the family element worth up to £545 a year.

To claim child tax credit, update your existing tax credit claim by reporting a change in your circumstances online or by phone.

20. Child benefit

You can get Child Benefit worth up to £1,335 a year if you’re responsible for bringing up a child who is under 16 or under 20 if they stay in education.

Child benefit is usually paid every four weeks, but it can be paid weekly if you’re a single parent or receiving certain other benefits, like income support.

Make sure you’re not missing out as it’s welcome boost that doesn’t stop over the holidays.

You can apply for child benefit online by visiting www.gov.uk/child-benefit/how-to-claim.

Bear in mind that those who earn more than £60,000 a year have to start paying back some of their children’s benefits through the high-income child benefit charge (HICBC).

You have to pay back 1% of your child benefit for every £200 of income over this amount.

If your income is between £60,000 and £80,000, the tax charge will be 1% of your child benefit for every £200 of income between £60,000 and £80,000.

The charge will never be more than the amount of child benefit you receive.

If you earn £80,000 or more you have to repay the full amount.

21. Free school uniform

You may not be ready to think about back to school, but if you may be able to get help wit the cost of kitting out your kids thanks to the Household Support Fund (HSF).

Grants to help with school uniform costs are offered by several councils across England, with up to £200 free cash available.

For example, Medway Council, in South East England, is distributing school uniform vouchers to hard-up households worth £100.

You receive £100 for every dependent school age child, per household per year, unless in exceptional circumstances.

So, if you have two dependent children you can get £200.

Contact your local council to see what exactly you can get