--- title: "Fun and Food Programme for Children in Receipt of Benefits-related Free School Meals (Summer 2026)" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0694db" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0694db" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0694db.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0694db.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL" published: "2026-05-08" --- # Fun and Food Programme for Children in Receipt of Benefits-related Free School Meals (Summer 2026) Buyer: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0694db [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0694db) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0694db.json) ## Summary Durham County Council is seeking providers for their "Fun and Food Programme for Children in Receipt of Benefits-related Free School Meals (Summer 2026)" under an open procurement method. The contract, focusing on services, covers a range of activities and supportive measures for school-aged children, funded by the Department for Education. Interested providers must comply with various standards, including food provision, enrichment activities, and physical and healthy lifestyle promotion. The procurement process is currently in the tender stage, and proposals must be submitted by 5th June 2026. The programme will operate during the summer holidays from 20th July to 31st August 2026 in County Durham, with contracts valued at £600,000 GBP potentially extendable to the Christmas period based on performance. This tender represents significant opportunities for businesses involved in education, health, or community services to expand their offerings and grow within the local market. Particularly, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) may find this contract suitable due to its scalability and the possibility of extension based on successful service delivery. The potential to provide a beneficial community service adds value and attractiveness for companies focused on social good. Interested businesses should carefully consider the requirements and standards outlined in the tender documents available at www.open-uk.org. ## Notice The Council wishes to seek multiple Providers to deliver the Fun and Food programme to Children in Receipt of Benefits-related Free School Meals within the boundaries of County Durham. This project utilises Department for Education (DfE) funding which is for school aged children in receipt of benefits related free school meals. All providers must meet DfE framework of standards as below: * Food Provision * Enrichment Activities * Physical Activities * Increasing Awareness of Healthy Eating, healthy lifestyles, and positive behaviours * Signposting and referrals and supporting families * Safeguarding * Policies and Procedures Please note - sessions do not need to be exclusively for children in receipt benefits-related Free School Meals, alternative funding may be sourced by the organisation to fund children ineligible for DfE funding i.e parents/carers may be charged for sessions by the activity organisation. Providers will be asked to bid and submit a proposal for the Summer Holidays 2026. Successful Providers' contracts, as delivered under the Summer 2026 holiday provision, may be extended/varied to cover delivery in the Christmas school holiday period. At the sole discretion of the Council, providers will be identified and approached for Christmas delivery, this is likely to be dependent on successful achievement from Summer 2026 delivery under this contract and Commissioners professional judgement. If Successful Providers meet the threshold that the Commissioner deems as successful delivery, they will be emailed a proposal form for completion for the next school holiday period. The same evaluation criteria will be applied to the subsequent proposals. There is also a possibility that DCC may acquire funding from different sources that may be used for main school holidays, half term holidays or funding for participants to attend that are not in receipt of Benefits-related Free School Meals. Where this is the case successful providers will be updated regarding the scope of delivery. Further details of the requirements are set out in the tender documents which can be accessed free of charge at www.open-uk.org ### Lot Information Lot 1 Renewal: Successful Providers' contracts, as delivered under the Summer 2026 holiday provision, may be extended/varied to cover delivery in the Christmas school holiday period. At the sole discretion of the Council, providers will be identified and approached for Christmas delivery, this is likely to be dependent on successful achievement from Summer 2026 delivery under this contract and Commissioners professional judgement. If Successful Providers meet the threshold that the Commissioner deems as successful delivery, they will be emailed a proposal form for completion for the next school holiday period. The same evaluation criteria will be applied to the subsequent proposals. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/042590-2026 | | Notice type | UK4 - Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Below threshold - open competition | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 8 May 2026 | | Submission deadline | 5 Jun 2026 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 19 Jul 2026 - 31 Aug 2026 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £600,000 | | Lots value | £600,000 | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Active | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL | | Locality | DURHAM | | Post town | Durham | | Postcode | DH1 5WB | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) | | ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear | | ITL 3 | TLC41 Durham | | Local authority | County Durham | | Electoral ward | Framwellgate and Newton Hall | | Westminster constituency | City of Durham | | Delivery location | TLC14 Durham | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 80 - Education and training services - 85 - Health and social work services - 92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services - 98 - Other community, social and personal services ### Codes - 80000000 - Education and training services - 85000000 - Health and social work services - 92000000 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services - 98000000 - Other community, social and personal services ## Release History - 8 May 2026 at 13:48 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/042590-2026 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/042590-2026 8th May 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender ## Notice URLs - http://www.durham.gov.uk/ - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0694db. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0694db.json.