Short Break Stories

DASH Club Holiday Breaks

A story by The DASH Club

We provided after school activities to young people with complex support needs. In the spring and summer breaks we ran holiday programmes so that the young people can have fun with their friends, whilst their carers have time to spend on themselves and other family members.

What DASH Club Holiday Breaks did

This year we have run our core programme of after-school activities throughout term-time, we had 3 sessions a week running from 3-5pm, and young people take part in a choice of activities including: swimming, games, bowling, drama, art and massage therapy. We provide transport home for all the young people to increase the respite time for carers. The carers use the time this affords to focus on the needs of siblings and other family members, take a breather from a day at work, and finish off chores.

We also this year delivered a six day spring, and a nine day summer holiday programme. The spring programme included sports, dance, soft play, bowling and trips out. The summer programme which was partially funded by Short Breaks took place over two weeks, and it was the first time we've run the programme as nine days over two weeks, usually it's six days over two weeks. The funding from Short Breaks enabled us to pilot the more intensive programme. The feedback we received from parents was that they very much appreciated the extra respite, and that they would like us to continue with the longer programme next year.

Twenty young people took part in the programme, supported by seventeen support staff, giving respite for fifty one individuals (carers and families). The programme was based at Keppoch Campus Primary School in North Glasgow, and activities at the campus included: games, sports, dancing (with a visiting dance coach), hydrotherapy and aromatherapy (with a professional). Trips out included: adapted bikes (Free Wheel North), the cinema, soft play, Summerlee Industrial Park, The Scottish Rural Museum and Blair Drummond Safari Park.

The carers reported that they used the respite to, spend time with other family members, access places they can't normally manage (eg. visiting relatives that live up flights of stairs), cleaning and sorting out their homes, and "having peace and quiet".

S. is an only child with learning difficulties and autism. He has boundless energy and likes to have constant attention, which he can be very persistent in demanding. When he's at home his mother spends most of the day keeping him occupied with sports and games. S. joined the summer programme for six days and took part in all the provided activities, especially the sports and swimming - he likes to be active.

Meanwhile S.'s mother enjoyed peace and quiet, time for herself without needing to think about how to keep S. occupied. She was able to rest, think, and if she wished do "nothing". Having this time made it easier to manage the rest of the summer holidays.

A. uses a wheelchair to move around and this can restrict the places her family can access including the homes of friends and relatives which require stairs to access: not uncommon in Glasgow which has large number of old tenements. Whilst A. was at the summer programme her family took the opportunity to visit friends and relatives who live "up stairs" .

Meanwhile A. enjoyed spending time with her friends, and visiting places with the DASH wheelchair adapted bus that her family wouldn't normally be able to take her to.
The most popular trip of the Summer Programme was to Blair Drummond Safari Park. Both staff and young people said they would like to have been able to spend a longer time at the park. However, they reported that the disabled access toilet facilities were poor: tricky to access in a wheelchair, and without a hoist or changing bed; as a result staying at the park for an extended period would be difficult.

On receiving this feedback from our staff we contacted Blair Drummond to ask if they had plans to improve their disabled facilities, and received the response that they had in fact built new facilities this year complete with hoists , and an entry code to the facilities can be obtained at the entrance.

We will now be able to include a long day at Blair Drummond in our next summer programme and will be feeding back to parents the information re: the disabled facilities so that if they wish they can visit themselves with the young person they care for.
C. is non-verbal but very active. He finds it hard to sit still but needs to be constantly occupied. If he isn't, he will scream, lash out at whoever is around him and hit himself on the head. Having to keep C. occupied with activities he enjoys means that his parents have little spare time that can be centred around his brother.

The DASH Club summer programme gave C. a structure to his holiday and plenty of activities, such as swimming, that he enjoys. Whilst he was with the club, his parents took C's brother on day trips to places that he wanted to visit, places that C. wouldn't necessarily like. The whole family benefited from the respite.
H. is a regular with The DASH Club after-school sessions but doesn't come to the swimming sessions as it wasn't thought to be something she would enjoy. However, during the summer programme H. tried the hydrotherapy sessions and loved them. She may now join the after school swimming sessions.

What The DASH Club has learned

That a longer, more intensive programme whilst harder work for our staff had an overall greater benefit than the usual shorter programme. That it's worth asking an attraction what their disability facilities are, even if we think we already know from past experience....We now know that we can spend a longer day at Blair Drummond Safari Park as their newly built facilities have hoists.

To make sure we plan our breaks for when our staff are able and willing to support them. We were unable to run our proposed autumn residential programme as none of our support staff wanted to give up their own family time during the October week break. We will therefore not be considering autumn residentials in the future.
Top tips The DASH Club's top tips for an organisation that wants to run a similar project
Tip 1:
Provide a choice of activities, balancing the more energetic with quieter more relaxing ones so as to meet the needs of all the service users.
Tip 2:
Assess demand for the service well in advance, and ensure that as soon as possible you "pencil" in sufficient staffing, transport, and accommodation to meet that demand,
Tip 3:
Give very clear information in advance to the carers on cost, timings, activities, & what the service users will need bring with them each day.