THE first summer holiday activities for children who live in the Stroud district are now available to book. There will be something for everyone, including sport, dance, drama, music, craft, and a whole host of other activities during four weeks of the school summer holiday 1 - 29 August 2022. Stroud District Council will be co-ordinating the activities for children in the Stroud district, working closely with community groups, the voluntary sector, and other organisations. Some of the activities will be reserved for children from reception to year 11 who receive benefits-related free school meals (the Holiday Activity Fund, or HAF). Other activities will be available for all children and young people (Holiday Activities Programme, or HAP, formerly known as COMF) which is funded by grants.

Summer holiday activities can be booked here: stroud.gov.uk/community-health-and-wellbeing/holiday-activity-food-programme-2022. If you are booking for the first time you will need to create an account which can be done here: gloucestershirecounty.coordinate.cloud/account/register

Our Health & Wellbeing team will be adding new activities throughout the coming weeks so even if activities are showing as sold out people should keep checking. Keep up to date with the holiday activity programme by following the Stroud District Council HAF page on Facebook.

I’m also pleased to see that the Cotswold Canals Connected Ocean railway bridge project has been nominated for an award. It’s the one that the A38 canal roundabout won last year so we’re hoping for another win! People can vote here https://bit.ly/3nPTOw1

Finally, I hope you are enjoying the hot weather but do keep yourself safe, the NHS has good advice about how to spot the symptoms of heatstroke nhs.uk/conditions/heat-exhaustion-heatstroke/ . Dogs can suffer from heatstroke too and our Animal Welfare officers advise people with animals to make sure they have plenty of shade and water all day, and avoid walking dogs in hot weather.