London Borough of Sutton

About London Borough of Sutton

London Borough of Sutton (LBS) serves a constituency of over 200,000 people, in response to the evolving needs of its community, LBS embarked on a journey to improve the delivery of its Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme.  Formerly reliant on a variety of processes, LBS recognised the necessity for a modernised approach to facilitate their HAF programme.

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The challenge

LBS faced multifaceted challenges in its HAF programme operations. The absence of a booking platform resulted in a variety of processes, escalating administrative costs, and boundaries with engaging with families.  

Laila Khatun, Commissioning and Project Officer commented ‘Previously, we did not have a booking platform and had a variety of administrative processes. In addition, reliance on outdated data led to inaccuracies, and delays, and hindered our outreach efforts. We also had challenges where letters and HAF vouchers would be posted to incorrect addresses, go missing, increase postage fees, or be delayed due to postal strikes.’ 

The need to streamline operations, enhance their reach to eligible, and optimise resources effectively become a priority.

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The solution

In pursuit of a solution, LBS undertook an evaluation process, exploring various booking platforms to align with its requirements. Among the contenders, was the HolidayActivities platform, which emerged as the ideal fit.  Building on a pre-existing partnership with its sister company, Evouchers, who support LBS with the distribution of free school meals and supermarket vouchers.  

Laila Khatun, Commissioning and Project Officer continued ‘The HolidayActivities platform was an ideal fit to support the running and management of our HAF programme. Investing in the HolidayActivities platform resulted in savings of 36%, better value for money compared to the previous process, allowing LBS HAF team to redirect resources to areas of need.’  The transition to the platform facilitated precise targeting of eligible families, simplified reporting, and helped LBS achieve key programme milestones. 

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The results

The adoption of the HolidayActivities platform yielded transformative results for LBS’s HAF programme.

‘Using HolidayActivites has proven to be both cost-effective and enabled us to target, and support eligible families. The streamlined reporting process has facilitated easier submissions, ensuring the reliability of our data. Thanks to the efficiency of the platform the HAF team have gained the flexibility to address other priorities within the HAF initiative.’ 

Enhanced cost-effectiveness, streamlined operations, and improved data reliability empowered the HAF team to focus on strategic priorities.