Taking a family break

Surrey Short Breaks for Disabled Children funds voluntary organisations and SEND schools to provide short break services, including after school clubs, holiday schemes, home-care and more.  

The Surrey Children’s Disability Register is a voluntary register for a disability or impairment aged 0 to 18 years and living in Surrey. The register helps Surrey County Council plan and monitor services and also operates as a contact list to provide regular information and consultation about short break opportunities, funded by Surrey County Council, through the Surrey Short Breaks for Disabled Children Team. Telephone: 01372 832896 or apply online.

If registered you can access a free Max Card which allows your family access to various activities around the country at a discounted rate. The scheme is also open to new registrations so anyone interested in receiving a Max Card should register using the details above. Once registered, families will automatically receive the discount card in the post.

Parent Carer Break Grants are payments made to support parents who have a disabled child under 18 living in Surrey, who are not currently receiving services from Surrey County Council Children’s Services and don’t have a social care worker. Parents cannot apply directly themselves, but anyone working with a family can apply on your behalf – such as: a carer’s support worker at Action for Carers Surrey, teachers and Home School Link workers, nurses and health visitors, Children’s Centre managers, Early Years Support coordinators – having completed either a Child Assessment Framework form or Carer’s Assessment with you.

Parent Carer Break Grants can be used to fund a family holiday, a short break for parents, a training course for a parent, childcare to give a parent a break, a contribution towards your child accessing play or activities, days out, equipment to help you as a parent carer and much more. Once the application has been submitted, you will be contacted to discuss your needs, with a payment following shortly afterwards. For more details, speak to any of the professionals working with you or your child, or phone the Short Breaks team on 01372 833638 or email shortbreaks@surreycc.gov.uk.

There are also a number of charities who can help you organise a holiday for a child with a seriously ill child with complex health needs, either on their own with other children or for you all as a family. Holidays can be provided in the UK or overseas and the criteria may differ depending on the schemes each of the charities runs. With some charities you can apply directly, but with others you may have to get a doctor’s referral. Most of the schemes can be accessed all year around and the holidays are generally free of charge. Insurance and a medical team with care staff are provided to make sure your child’s health needs are fully met whilst on holiday. For a list of short breaks or holidays for your family. You can also call the Together for Families Helpline on 0808 8088 100 for details of organisations that can help. The Carers Trust also provides a useful list of organisations providing holidays for carers and parent carers. 

The Family Fund is a UK charity which can provide Take a break grants to enable families caring for a disabled or seriously ill child or young person to have the opportunity to choose how they would like to take a break, with a view to improving the quality of life, health and wellbeing of the whole family. The Family fund will also pay for washing machines, sensory toys, bedding, tablets, furniture, outdoor play equipment, clothing, and computers. Please note grants for a car, driving lessons, items already purchased or requests where health or social care has assessed a need and have a responsibility to provide an item or break will not be considered. 

Surrey Family Information Service (FIS) is a statutory service providing free impartial information and signposting for families with children aged 0 to 19 (up to 25 years for those with additional needs). The role of the service is to help families get the most out of the information and services available in the community and online. This could be something like helping you find out about local events and activities for your child, or pointing you in the right direction when things aren’t going so well and you need a bit of extra support.

1. It is important that you consider with your child’s care team how to access respite care so that you can have a regular break from caring. Parent carer breaks should be built into the child and family care plan.  
2. Having a holiday or break for your child on their own or all together can make a massive difference to your quality of life and enables you to build important memories that you can all treasure. Although it may feel daunting organising a family holiday, make good use of the above local directories, different sources of funding and different charities that can help you.