Local property firm helps bring holiday activities and food to even more children in Harrow this year

Young Harrow Foundation is delighted to announce a new partnership with DVS Foundation who will be financially supporting the Holidays Activities and Food (HAF) programmes running throughout 2022. Their contribution has created spaces for children, who would otherwise not have access to the scheme.

Established in 1985 by Dhiru V Shah, DVS Property is a family-run commercial property business based in Harrow. In 2012, Dhiru and his wife, Rami Shah formalised their family's charitable giving by setting up DVS Foundation. The Foundation's work is primarily focused in the advancement of education, healthcare and food security, both in the UK and East Africa.

Harrow has been home for the family for over 35 years, they love their local community and want to see those around them, especially young people, thriving. The HAF programme has proved to be a perfect opportunity for this.

Set up by the Department for Education, the HAF programme is a national scheme with a local focus. In Harrow, thousands of young people eligible for Free School Meals had the chance to get stuck in with holiday activities and enjoy hot meals in 2021, all for free. With the goal of combating holiday hunger.

Under the DfE’s funding criteria, only those on Free School Meals (FSM) are currently eligible to join the programme. DVS Foundation are providing additional funding which will enable local voluntary organisations to onboard youth who fall outside the FSM threshold but are still in just as much need.

Working with Corporate Businesses and Foundations has been a growing area of our work. Last year alone saw over 1,000 young people supported by local provision because of the generosity of philanthropy. It’s such a privilege to be able to broker businesses and donors with amazing local charities and we hope to continue to see more of these opportunities in the future.

Priyan Shah, from DVS Foundation said:

“The HAF programmes running across Harrow are exactly the kind of work we want to support. Seeing children and young people eating healthily, running around, being creative, trying new things, forging new friendships. We believe everyone should be able to experience school holidays like these, no matter their circumstances.

Working with the Young Harrow Foundation is an opportunity to remove some of the barriers that young people are facing, ease the pressures on parents and carers, and create lasting happy memories.”

Dan Burke, CEO of Young Harrow Foundation had this to say:

“We are excited to welcome DVS Foundation as a Young Harrow Foundation partner, and to work with them on making the HAF programme even bigger and better in 2022.

Their contribution has been a huge boost - we are able to open up HAF to even more families so that we can take another step towards every young person in our borough getting to enjoy healthy, happy school holidays.”

For any other local businesses or organisations who would like to join as partners, we would welcome having a chat. They can get in touch via our website www.youngharrowfoundation.org