Funding for Your Holiday or Respite Break

Holidays and travel provide unique and fantastic opportunities to experience new challenges and enhance the quality of life for everyone. For parents and carers, it is often the only time we have to recharge our batteries, but we understand that funding a holiday can sometimes be difficult, if you want to go on holiday, either alone or with the person you are looking after there is some help available.

To make sure you get a break you need, we have compiled a list of charities and organisations that can provide grants to individuals, children and families to fund or part fund holidays. See below for information on how you can find help to access any additional funds that you might need to enjoy your holiday with us.

Also, If, you are paying for your holiday, Sensory Traveller can organise a pay by instalment plan which means you can spread the cost of your holiday across a period of several months before you travel.

Top Tips

  • You could bring up the need for financial help during your carer’s assessment to see if there is any help the social services / social work department can give.
  • You could see if there are any local grants or schemes to help carers with the cost of a holiday. Your social services / social work department or a local carers’ centre should be able to let you know if there is anything locally available to help with the cost.
  • It is also worth contacting your local citizen’s advice bureau for a list of local schemes.

External Funding

Here are a selection of national organisations, grants and schemes that you can contact for more information:

These charities may be able to assist with funding your holiday:

  • Cavendish Spencer Disabled Holidays

The Cavendish Spencer Trust is a charity dedicated to providing funding towards holidays and respite breaks for adults with severe physical disabilities as a result of neurological or neuromuscular conditions. http://www.csdisabledholidays.co.uk/

  • The Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust

The FNAIST provides grants to people who are ill, convalescent, or disabled, towards respite breaks. http://fnaist.org.uk/

  • The Victoria Convalescent Trust

The VCT provides grants to people living in England and Wales to cover the costs of short breaks for the purpose of convalescence, recuperative, and respite care for people in need. Applications need to be made by a qualified health or social care professional.http://victoriaconvalescenttrust.org.uk/

  • The Act Foundation

ACT provides grant to people living in the UK who have a physical or mental disability, or people who are elderly, to enhance their quality of life. https://www.theactfoundation.co.uk/

Guides & Resources

    • Carers UK has a great Financial Help section on their website with a range of downloadable guides. https://www.carersuk.org/
    • Funding Caring provides advice and information on the financial help available to assist with the costs of caring. http://www.fundingcaring.co.uk/
    • Turn2Us helps people find and access appropriate sources of financial support available to them. https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Get-Support
    • Make A Wish grants magical wishes to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions. Since 1986, they’ve made the wishes of more than 11,000 seriously ill children a magical and life-changing reality! https://www.make-a-wish.org.uk
    • The Sandcastle Trust is a small charity with a big vision: a future where a diagnosis of a rare genetic condition will not be a barrier to experiencing everything that life has to offer – most importantly enjoying time together as a family. You can find out if you meet The Sandcastle Trust’s eligibility criteria and make an application here.
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