January 7, 2016

The Information and Advice Project at Equality Together has two holiday projects, one for people with disabilities and one for carers.  The holiday project for people with disabilities raises funds for the individual to take a holiday and the Holiday Project for Carers administers a £300 grant for Bradford council.  Both do amazing work, both separately and together, to get people the much needed break they need and ensure their wellbeing is maintained.

The Holiday Project for the Disabled Person raised £2000 from various charities for this severely disabled client to have a few days in London with his parents.  The holiday project for carer’s gave his mum, the main carer £300 towards her stay in London with him.

Gary (name changed), his mum and his dad, went to London on Wednesday 9th September – 12th September 2015.  Our Holiday Project for the Disabled Person worked tirelessly with the family to secure the train travel, assistance and the hotel, as well as giving the correct information for the client to be able to book their own museums and transport in London.  It was a very involved case, they needed a lot of support, but the end results were amazing.

The family stayed in the fully accessible Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury.  Gary and his parents had adjoining rooms.  The room that Gary stayed in was complete with hoist.

The family took an accessible taxi wherever they went and as they were centrally based in the hotel, this didn’t cost a fortune.

In the four days they were there, they managed to visit:

• Madame Tussauds
• The London Eye
• London Zoo
• London Sealife
• London Eye River Cruise
• London Dungeons
• The British Museum
• Hogwarts 9 ¾ Platform at Kings Cross
• Buckingham Palace on the Thursday when there was a ceremony taking place.

 When they were watching the ceremony at Buckingham Palace, they were ushered to the front (by the police) so they got the best view possible.

 Gary’s mum said that she has never seen Gary smile and laugh as much as he did, he thoroughly enjoyed every minute of his stay and had many official photos taken so that he can show all his college friends.

Before the trip, his mum was quite depressed as looking after Gary is a full time job for her and she never has any respite.  Having breakfast made, and eating out for the four days was an absolute treat and she has returned feeling refreshed and more capable of coping with her caring role.