Suffolk Libraries is launching a new programme of holiday activities for 11-16-year-olds this Easter.

The new Blank Page project is being funded by the Department for Education’s Holiday Activity Fund which aims to provide more support for young people and families during the school holidays.

The Blank Page programme will provide free, enriching and engaging holiday activities in libraries during the school holidays, starting this Easter. The activities will range from photography, sessions with local authors, creating art murals with local artists.

School holidays have been proven to be a pressure point for some families, creating a holiday experience gap, with children from low-income households less likely to access organised out-of-school activities and more likely to experience social isolation during school holidays.

The Blank Page activities aim to tackle these issues, with evidence showing that free holiday clubs can have a positive impact on children and young people.

The events kick off this Easter with a week of activities at Stowmarket, Lowestoft, Chantry, Gainsborough and Haverhill libraries.

Booking is essential and can be done via this form There will also be more information at suffolklibraries.co.uk/blank-page The activities will include:

Write your own detective story and learn how to be a prize-winning poet at Haverhill Library on Thursday 14 April. With local author, poet, artist and ukelele player, Christopher James.

Illustration workshop with Joel Millerchip at Stowmarket Library on 11 April and 14 April and Lowestoft Library on 12 April.

Photography with Gillian Allard at Chantry Library on 11, 13 and 14 April.

Bronze casting workshop with Alice-Andrea Ewing at Gainsborough Library on 13, 14 and 15 April.