WELL the ‘Greenock Fair’ is over for another year and for those of us who stayed at home the weather could have been a bit kinder.

Perhaps the ‘Glasgow Fair’ will be better, who knows?
At least there are plenty of opportunities for our children and young people to keep active during the school holidays.

The mainstay of the summer programme for many years has been our summer play schemes.

They’ve been going so long that I can even remember spending a number of happy summers at the play scheme in the old Holy Family Primary School in Port Glasgow – and I’m no spring chicken.

So far 2017 has seen the expansion of our summer lunch clubs, which were piloted last year. Nearly 150 families enjoyed a range of activities at three early learning and childcare establishments including reading, arts and crafts and outdoor games.

This year the project, which offers family learning and free meals over the summer holidays, has more than doubled in size, with seven clubs running in Port Glasgow and Greenock during July and August.

The programme has attracted the attention of no less a person than our Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education John Swinney MSP.

He is due to visit the lunch club in Port Glasgow’s Newark Primary School next week to hear at first-hand about it.

The summer holidays can be stressful for families so we hope that by providing free fun time it will relieve some of that stress. It can also be expensive to keep kids amused all summer. These sessions allow them to play in a relaxed setting, with access to resources they may not have at home.

Lunch also gives the whole family a chance to relax and enjoy free healthy food together and as part of their community.

Families have access to school family support workers, arts, craft, Bookbug sessions and family cooking.

Children will also be encouraged to take part in the Inverclyde Libraries’ Summer Reading Challenge, another great initiative from our library service.

So far over 800 children have signed up at their local library to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge where they commit to read six or more books of their choice and they pick up collector cards and other incentives along the way.

Those who complete the challenge are presented with a certificate and a medal. This initiative offers free access to books and fun, creative activities in our libraries during the holidays.

Inverclyde Leisure have been running their own summer programmes, including gymnastics classes in Boglestone Community Centre, Greenock Sports Centre and Kilmacolm Community Centre, as well as a summer activity camp in Greenock Sports Centre. And of course free swimming, funded by the council, is available to Inverclyde school children at the pools in Gourock, Greenock and Port Glasgow.

Greenock Morton Community Trust have once again been running their popular summer camps at a number of venues across Inverclyde, the Beacon Arts Centre is running a week long ‘Summer School’ with creative workshops led by professional tutors who specialise in dance, theatre and visual arts and the Waterfront Cinema is showing the latest blockbusters throughout the summer, as well as running their special low sensory screenings every Tuesday and Saturday morning for children and adults with autism or sensory sensitivity.

It is good to see other organisations like River Clyde Homes also putting on activities for young people with their free hula hoop fun sessions for customers’ children and McGill’s Buses helping to make all of these activities accessible with their summer ticket offers.

Who says there is nothing to do during the school holidays in Inverclyde?