Short breaks and activities for disabled children and young people
All young people in Bolton should be able to access universal play and leisure activities, for example parks, playgrounds, entertainment and sports facilities.
Short breaks provide a specialist service which aims to support disabled children and their families, over and above those opportunities available to all families. They include services which you may think of as ‘respite care’, but ‘short breaks’ is a better way of describing support from which both children and parents benefit.
Who Can Have a Short Break?
Short breaks are available to disabled young people in Bolton aged 0 to 18 and their families. Short breaks have two main aims: to provide a break from caring to support a parent or carer to continue to look after their child in the long term; and to enable disabled children to participate in safe, fun and interesting activities. Short breaks vary from a few hours in a supported activity to overnight stays with another family or in a residential setting. See: The Short Breaks Eligibility Leaflet in downloads for more information about who can have a short break, and the level of assessment needed.
Currently a range of short break opportunities is available to eligible children and families in Bolton. These are publicised through The Record as well as on these pages.
Bolton Short Breaks Services Statement 2011
Welcome to Bolton's first short breaks services statement. New regulations came into force in April 2011 which require each local authority to produce a short breaks statement and keep it under regular review. These regulations establish in law the local authority's duty to provide short breaks from caring to assist parents and others with parental responsibility who provide care for disabled children. You will find this document on the right hand side of this page in the Dowloads section.
What's New?
Do You Need a Holiday?
If you struggle to find suitable accommodation for your child because there is nowhere safe for them to sleep then look no further. A wooden chalet on the banks of the River Seiont is available now. This beautiful holiday park near Caernarfon, North Wales boasts stunning surroundings with the added piece of mind that your child will have all the necessary equipment they need, including a high sided bed, secure kitchen and all the up-to-date equipment you would expect to find in a modern chalet. If you are interested please look in the Downloads section on this page for more information.
Transforming Short Breaks Newsletter
Included in this final edition of the Transforming Short Breaks newsletter are the responses to some of your questions regarding accessing short breaks and information about the new Short Breaks duty. To find out more please see the downloads section of this page.
Aspirations
This is a group dedicated to young people aged 12 – 19 years old, with Asperger’s Syndrome. This group offers fantastic activities for children and young people and also have a weekly 3 hour activity and monthly social skills group that are funded by Bolton Council. For more information please see the Downloads section of this page.