Mytime Active is trying to remove some of the financial sting from the summer holidays, offering free children’s breakfasts, £1 bowling and lower-cost family activities as parents contemplate the peculiar economics of keeping children occupied for six weeks.
For families around Bromley and parts of the Midlands, the charitable leisure operator’s summer programme is less about grand days out than making ordinary ones affordable. And there is something refreshingly practical about that.
A swimming pool, a bowling lane and breakfast may not trouble Disneyland’s accountants, but they can do a perfectly respectable job of rescuing a Tuesday morning.
Free kids’ breakfasts run until September
The simplest offer is also probably the easiest for families to appreciate: breakfast without a bill attached.
Mytime Active’s current terms confirm that children can receive one free breakfast from Monday to Friday between 9.15 am and 10.15 am until 2 September 2026 at participating centres, including The Pavilion in Bromley and Hatchford Brook in the Midlands.
The published offer also includes Pype Hayes. Breakfast choices are toast, porridge or an apple, subject to availability, and no advance booking is required.
It is hardly brunch at The Ritz, admittedly. That rather misses the point.
For parents attempting to manufacture an affordable day out from the contents of the school holiday calendar, removing even one routine cost gives the rest of the day a little more breathing room.
£1 bowling gives Bromley families a cheaper option
At The Pavilion in Bromley, the headline attraction is £1 bowling.
The current Summer Savers terms specify an Early Bird Special of £1 per person, per game on weekdays between 9 am and 11 am, subject to lane availability, with advance booking required. Standard bowling at the venue ordinarily costs considerably more, making the promotion one of the more substantial savings in the summer package.
The Pavilion also houses a leisure pool, soft play, gym, bowling alley and food facilities in central Bromley, allowing families to bolt several activities together without conducting a small expedition across south-east London.
For anyone who has spent a school holiday driving between activities while haemorrhaging money on parking, snacks and mysterious £4 drinks, there is merit in keeping things under one roof.
Swimming adds some organised chaos
Family Splash sessions provide the wetter part of the programme, with waves and family swimming among the leisure pool’s regular attractions.
Pools remain particularly useful during the summer break because they manage the difficult trick of being both entertainment and exercise. Children tend not to enquire about cardiovascular benefits while charging towards an inflatable obstacle course, which is probably just as well.
The wider idea behind the programme is straightforward: physical activity becomes easier to sustain if the price of participating does not immediately disqualify families from taking part.
That sits comfortably with Mytime Active’s charitable remit. The Charity Commission describes the organisation as a leisure trust that reinvests surpluses into sport, play, wellbeing and related facilities, with affordable leisure among its stated purposes.
Mytime Active CEO says affordability matters
Steve May, who is currently listed by Mytime Active as its chief executive, says the pressure of summer spending is central to the initiative.
“We know the summer holidays can put real pressure on family budgets, particularly when it comes to keeping children active and entertained. As a not-for-profit trust, our aim is to make physical activity accessible, whatever a family’s circumstances.
From free breakfasts to £1 bowling, we want every family to be able to enjoy a full day out without worrying about the cost.”
That argument has some substance. Leisure operators frequently talk about accessibility in sweeping terms; a £1 bowling game is rather more measurable.
Mytime Active is a registered charity and describes itself as a social enterprise whose income is reinvested into services, facilities and community programmes rather than distributed as shareholder profit.
Families should check the meal offer before visiting
There is one detail worth clearing up before anyone arrives expecting lunch for nothing.
Material supplied for the summer campaign describes a kids-eat-free family meal deal. However, Mytime Active’s current published terms list a different offer: buy a full-priced adult main or stone-baked pizza and receive one child’s meal for £1, available Wednesday to Friday during school holidays between 11 am and 5 pm, subject to availability.
Families planning their spending would therefore be sensible to check the live terms before travelling.
That wrinkle aside, the broader proposition is easy enough to grasp. Free breakfast, bowling for a pound and access to family swimming create the bones of a summer outing without requiring the sort of budget normally associated with airport security and commemorative mouse ears.
For Mytime Active, the clever part is not inventing something extravagantly new. It is making familiar activities easier to say yes to.
During six weeks in which parents will hear “I’m bored” delivered with the persistence of a smoke alarm, that may be quite enough.
