Government launches campaign encouraging families to Rediscover Summer

Government has launched a campaign to promote leisure activities for children and families this summer

• The campaign highlights a range of activities and opportunities for families, children and young people such as exploring a local museum or discovering a National Cycling Network Trail
• Families encouraged to get back out and Rediscover Summer after a year of missed opportunities

The government’s Rediscover Summer campaign has launched to help inspire families to get out and about safely and make the most out of summer.

Whether it’s visiting the places that inspired your favourite books, trying out a new sport or even learning how to code, the campaign will show families that there are plenty of new activities to try wherever they live.Throughout the duration of the campaign, each week of the summer holidays will promote a separate theme from sport and creativity to nature and heritage.

A Save The Children survey has shown how the pandemic has negatively impacted the social lives of our children and young people, with a third of children playing alone more, and a quarter having played less sport since the pandemic, raising concerns about the impact on their well-being.

To help combat this, the government is encouraging families to Rediscover Summer and enjoy the range of leisure activities on offer after a year of missed opportunities.

Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston said:

Our young people deserve a summer filled with exciting and enriching activities after everything they’ve missed out on as we’ve fought to control the virus.

We want families to get out there and enjoy what’s on offer, and our Rediscover Summer campaign will help them do that. The summer has been given the best possible start with a terrific England run in the Euros.

Children and Families Minister Vicky Ford said:

Rediscover Summer will provide families with some fantastic opportunities to get back to the activities they may have missed out on over the last year. Our Summer Home Activities list will offer up more free ideas and options for children to stay active and have fun, and our expanded Holiday Activities and Food programme will also help families access opportunities both indoors and outdoors.

Parents have worked so hard to keep their children entertained so I hope they can take advantage of these to use the holidays creatively, helping to boost children’s wellbeing after what has been a really difficult time.

Launching today, a gov.uk page features a taste of the activities available over the summer to inspire parents and families and help young people get involved in their local communities. The activities suggested range from the Summer Reading Challenge to Chance to Shine cricket sessions and from trips to the Imperial War Museum to Mercury Theatre’s Family sing-a-long. No matter where you live, the campaign will show there is something for everyone.

Visit the Rediscover Summer guide

Working closely with our partners, including Arts Council England, Sport England and National Museums Greenwich to help promote the breadth of summer activities on offer, this campaign will help get young people out and about this summer and make a difference in their communities.

This campaign will also be supported by the Summer Home Activities List due to be published online in the coming weeks which will inspire activities for families to do in and around their home this summer.

The themes for each week of the campaign are as follows:

• Week 1: Reading [26 July – 1 Aug] From reading your favourite books to visiting the places that inspired them, where will reading take you this summer?
• Week 2: Creativity [2 – 8 Aug] From coding to music lessons, there are lots of ways you can get creative over the summer holidays, both at home and outside.
• Week 3: Sport [9 – 15 Aug] Which sports and activities will you enjoy this summer? Why not try something new together?
• Week 4: Nature [16 – 22 Aug] This summer is a perfect time to get back to nature. Plan your perfect walking route to explore the outdoors or use your imagination to create a lifeform that could survive in four environments outside this world
• Week 5: Heritage [23 – 29 Aug] Explore fun and engaging activities and ways to explore your local heritage, this summer.
• Week 6: Community [30 Aug – 5 Sept] Use the summer holidays to find out about your local community through volunteering or taking part in fun local activities.

The Department for Education’s upcoming Summer Home Activities List will help parents identify enriching activities for their children to undertake over the school holidays, and will be published on gov.uk for free use and download soon.

The expanded Holiday Activities and Food Programme, backed by up to £220 million, will continue to provide thousands of children enriching activities and nutritious food in every local authority in England this summer. Find out more about HAF here. Guidance for LAs is available here.

The Active Recovery Hub includes hundreds of activities for children and young people of all ages, and can be accessed by parents over summer to find activities in their local area.*The Department for Education has also published COVID-19 guidance for parents and carers using out-of-school settings for their children over the summer here, to help support them enjoy these activities safely.