Free summer food and fun for kids @KPCCOval

Kennington Park Community Centre is excited and pleased to again be part of this year's Summer of Food and Fun being organised by Lambeth Council to keep our kids fed and active during the school summer holidays. 

Our scheme will run four days a week for five weeks from 25 July to 25 August 2022, 10am to 4pm, providing a free hot dinner, healthy snacks and oodles of fun for local children aged 4 to 14.

Shannon and her Simply Smiley Productions team have put on activities at KPCC Oval for the past few summers and this year will provide activities such as growing and eating healthy plants, yoga, hula hooping, dance, drama, free play and more including projects such as creating a living wall and Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream drama workshop. Have a look at the video from last year and you will see what a great time all the children had!

Why we need funding

We should have sufficient grant funding to cover meals and some activities but we need an additional £5,000 to cover all our costs, especially for our projects of creating a Living Wall and introducing our kids to Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream with the help of four local theatre companies. We are hoping to raise £1,000 of that from our Crowdfunder.

Our scheme is free for the kids because otherwise they would not have the opportunity to attend. This year, in particular, it is already difficult for a lot of families because of the cost-of-living crisis and paying for a summer scheme is just not possible when they are already choosing between food and heat. 

We give priority to the children on our estate and those receiving free school meals, although others are welcome to apply as well. Our provision includes working with SEND children.

Every £20 donated will pay for a child to attend one day of our summer scheme.

So please give what you can – and encourage your friends and colleagues to donate as well. If you want to discuss how to donate directly please contact us on [email protected].

Happy parents, happy children!

Here is some of the feedback we received from last year's summer scheme:

"My son’s 5 weeks in KPCC summer camp 2021 was the best thing that could have happened to him. He loved making new friends, hula hooping, DJing with Chloe, eating wonderful lunches... I saw him leave behind the anxieties caused to a large extent by the health pandemic and change back into a happy, confident little boy who is now doing very well at school. Thank you team!"

"Just would like to say a big thank you  to the KPCC Oval team for the wonderful summer scheme they provided over the summer holidays. My daughter really enjoyed the days she was there, she loved all the activities and had a wonderful fun time. I hope we can see more of these schemes for future holidays, it is a big help for parents and more so for the children’s avoiding them being stuck at home."

"Just a quick email to say thank you so much for having my children these last three weeks. They really did have a wonderful time, and I was really grateful for the break."

"Firstly I would like to just say a huge thank you to all the staff that were involved in this year's summer Playscheme. I am a tenant and have 3 children. As a single parent it can often be hard to do things with the children over the holidays as everything (with the exception of museums and parks ) is so expensive. This year the KPCC summer scheme was a blessing, especially for my children. I managed to get them one full week of activities outside and was stuck for the rest of the holidays until I was contacted by Shannon and offered a place for all 3 of my children, for 3 out of the 5 weeks that it was running. The staff were absolutely amazing, my children were fed, watered, stimulated all day which meant they were completely worn out when they got home. Having these sort of schemes running, I think is vital as it give our children a safe and friendly environment to meet and make new friends and most importantly be kids. Thanks again for all your hard work and we hope to see you all again for summer 2022."

For more information on our project, please go to www.kpccoval.org.