Islington Council’s annual summer holiday programme for children and young people will still take place despite the coronavirus pandemic - but this year activities will be either socially distanced or held online.

The Heatwave scheme that helps young people make the most of their summer holiday in July and August has been put together in-line with national and local public health guidance to ensure safety.

Young people aged 13 and over who live or go to school or college in Islington can sign up for free Summerversity courses and for the over-16s Launchpad courses are on offer.

Kayaking, bike repair, carpentry, music, life skills, employability support, basketball, online yoga, film making and photography are just some of the activities on offer.

A free lunch bag will be provided to every participant who takes part in an in-person course thanks to the council’s Lunch Bunch initiative which helps tackle “holiday hunger”.

For younger children, the Summer Reading Challenge has moved online helping children aged four to 11 carry on reading over the summer and discover new authors and books genres.

Some activities for children under five and their families are taking place online, like the song and movement class Come and Play, family zumba and baby massage.

Other activities will be held outdoors and socially distanced.

In addition, Islington’s 12 adventure playgrounds for children aged six and over reopened this week, with a limited capacity to ensure safety, and pre-booking is required.

Childcare is available for children aged five to 11 years at a range of holiday playschemes, where priority will be given to vulnerable children and the children of key workers.

The council’s family chief, Cllr Kaya Comer-Schwartz, said: “Council teams and partners have been working extremely hard to put together this year’s Heatwave programme. The coronavirus pandemic has obviously created new challenges, but we are doing everything we can to make sure people are safe. In light of this, we are especially delighted to be able to offer such a high quality programme.”

See islington.gov.uk/heatwave for the full listings or call 020 7527 5959.