FREE activities as well as meals, winter warmer packs and advice are being offered across Tendring to help entertain children as well as helping families facing financial hardship.

Community Voluntary Services Tendring (CVST) is an umbrella charity which represents the voluntary sector across Tendring, and works in Clacton, Jaywick Sands, Harwich and Walton.

CVST is pointing families to a directory of events and activities arranged across Tendring for the upcoming autumn half-term school holiday, from Monday, October 28, to Friday, November 1.

Support - CVST'S free family breakfast club in Clacton on Monday October 28Support - CVST'S free family breakfast club in Clacton on Monday October 28 (Image: CVST)

Firstly, there is a free CVST family breakfast club on October 28 at Sam’s Hall on Rosemary Road in Clacton, from 9.30 to 11.30am which has spooky Halloween activities for children as well as a free breakfast, library service, and other services.

On October 29, from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, there is a pumpkin carving event at charity Teen Talk’s base on Cliff Road, Harwich.

Also on October 29, is a ‘Halloween Slime Fun’ event at ACL Clacton on St Osyth Rd with separate two-hour morning and afternoon sessions available

CVST will also be running a family warm hub on October 30 from 10am to 1pm at St Clare’s Primary School on Cloes Lane which is open to all families in Clacton with winter warmer bags and a school uniform bank being available, alongside other fun activities.

On October 30, Harwich Teen Talk will be holding a haunted historical tour of Mistley from 11am to 3pm, for 17 to 25-year-olds.

On Halloween, October 31, Teen Talk will be holding a pumping carving and decorating cookies session at Cliff Road in Harwich from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.

Teen Talk will also be running a Happy Holidays social group for 11- to 16-year-olds from 4pm to 6pm, part of a three-month programme funded by Children in Need.

Essex Activate will also be running free activity clubs for eligible primary and secondary school children which can be accessed at www.activessex.org.

To find out more visit https://www.cvstendring.org.uk/ as well as  https://teentalkharwich.co.uk/ and https://aclessex.com/.