Families across Knowsley have received free summer activity packs to help them escape the lockdown blues during the school holidays with the help of Livv Housing Group and the SNAP programme.
Livv has donated £20k towards the Sport Nutrition and Active Play scheme which has helped fund 1,250 summer activity packs full of hours of creative fun for youngsters.
And the packs were distributed across the borough in style – in a fire engine with firefighters from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service’s Prescot Green Watch, who were keen to support the summer fun initiative.
This activity is part of Livv’s commitment to investing in the community and working with groups in the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sectors to enhance the lives of people in the region.
The packs have been made up by Livv employees and will provide children with a range of fun activities to do while at home for the holidays, whatever the weather. Packs include:
- a pack of wildflower seeds to take to the garden
- A cookie cutter to enjoy a spot of baking
- a Jenga set, frisbee, colouring book and crayons
- a bat and ball set and a bubble wand
A thousand packs were also distributed to volunteer hubs across the borough, with another 250 going to some of Livv Housing Group’s customers who have been identified as needing extra support during the pandemic while more than 100 packs have also been delivered directly to registered families by staff from One Knowsley.
Most importantly all the deliveries have followed the Government guidance on social distancing.
SNAP is coordinated by One Knowsley, in partnership with Livv Housing Group and Knowsley Council, and aims to support children by providing a range of free, engaging and fun activities that promote health and wellbeing, encouraging them to get active or develop new skills and interests.
Taking place across the borough and online, organisations from the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector have come together to make sure that there will be something everyone can get involved with this summer.
Amanda Newton, Executive Director, Customer Insight, at Livv Housing Group, said: “Our teams had great fun in making up these activity packs, which we hope will bring hours of summer-time fun to children from across the Borough. We are committed to supporting the people in our communities and this is small way of us helping out families across the summer.
“During the pandemic we have seen how people and organisations in our borough have come together to support each other. We also recognise that there will be families struggling during the summer holidays and are proud to be playing our part in the SNAP programme.
“Our income and welfare support team has been working closely with our customers throughout the pandemic to support their needs, so we have identified families who will be receiving packs directly from us as part of our commitment to be there for our customers during these difficult times.”
Racheal Jones, Chief Executive Officer, One Knowsley said: “Knowsley’s voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise sector never ceases to amaze us. They have come together during a difficult period of time and created a fantastic summer holiday programme of activities.
“We would like to say a huge thank you to Livv Housing Group for organising and funding summer activity packs for Knowsley children and families, the support you have given to SNAP is invaluable.”
Station Manager Steve Thomas, from Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service, said: “This is a great example of how we can work together on a voluntary basis to help our communities in times of struggle. We are delighted to be a part of this fantastic initiative and we hope to provide ongoing assistance during the summer months to support the volunteering sector within the Knowsley community.“
For more information about SNAP, visit https://www.oneknowsley.org/snap/.