Working parents will benefit from a £400,000 summer support plan to keep kids active during the summer holidays.

Essex County Council (ECC) has revealed plans to ease the financial burden posed on parents by school holiday child care as many return to work following the coronavirus lockdown.

One initiative, a summer holiday clubs programme will see around £240,000 of investment provide 21,600 free activity camp sessions across Essex during the six-week holiday.

The clubs will take be run by qualified coaches and partner organisations; children attending will also receive a free packed lunch.

The county council will publish complimentary activity sessions for the sports bags on the Active Essex You Tube channel.

Cllr Louise McKinlay, ECC cabinet member for children and families, said: “At February Full Council I announced that we would be offering 12,000 sessions of summer clubs across the county to help working parents with childcare over the summer. Covid-19 nearly put a stop to our plans, but as guidance developed we realised that we could deliver something this summer.

"As a local authority we saw the added importance of this scheme in the current context and today’s announcement not only doubles the amount of sessions available to families across Essex to 21,600 but also sees double the investment from the council.

"We are committed to supporting families through this tough time and I commend the work of Active Essex in organising this under such tight time constraints."

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