Holiday information

You can download this factsheet as a PDF document:
Holiday Information (125 kb) [pdf]

Compiled by the Information Service at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (updated November 2006)

Planning a holiday if you have a disability can turn into an exhausting crusade for facts and options - a crusade which sometimes ends in disappointment when operators do not stick to their promises. The following contact organisations and publications may be able to take some of the sting out of the planning and even the financing.


Plan your holiday
There are a number of things you need to consider when planning your holiday and choosing your destination. On this page you can read about some of them.

Contents:


Equipment

Think through what equipment you need for your holiday, for example do you need a raised toilet seat, a mobile hoist or a wheelchair? Can you take it with you or do you need to hire or borrow some equipment?

The British Red Cross can sometimes loan equipment used for medical purposes. Contact them on
Tel: 0870 170 7000
Email: information@redcross.org.uk
Web:www.redcross.org.uk

Disabled Living Centres may provide information and advice on hiring equipment. To find the centre closest to you contact Assist UK on
Tel: 0870 770 2866
Email:general.info@assist-uk.org
Web:www.dlcc.org.uk

Always get an assessment before purchasing any equipment.

Wheelchairs

If you use a manual wheelchair it’s worth having it checked before leaving to lessen the risk of any breakdowns during the trip. Consider taking a spare inner tube, a puncture repair kit and tools that might be useful.

If you are using a powered wheelchair, consider whether it is essential to take it. Don’t forget to also take the charger and an adapter suitable for the country you are travelling to. Have the wheelchair checked before you leave to minimize the risk of a breakdown during your holiday. Try to find out in advance if there is anywhere you can have your wheelchair serviced should something happen during your trip. If you are travelling within the UK and have a breakdown then the local wheelchair service repairs may be able to help.

If you are travelling by air, check with the airline around transport of the wheelchair. Always make sure your travel or home insurance also covers your powered wheelchair or any other equipment you need to take on your holiday.

Getting there

Plan your trip in advance and find out as much as you can about how to get there before you leave. The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) is an independent body set up by the Government.

You can find most information you need to plan your trip door-to-door on its website. The information ranges from car ferries, Euro tunnel and parking to travelling with oxygen (under the ‘going by air’ section of the website). You find the information on its website at www.dptac.gov.uk/door-to-door

If you have no access to the Internet you can call the Information and Support Line on 020 7803 4800 or freephone 0800 652 6352 and an Information Officer will try to help you.

Tourism for All also provide information and advice about travel for disabled persons (see below).



Choose your destination

When you choose the destination for your holiday make sure you find out about accessible activities and how you can get out and about before making any bookings. If you like beach holidays find out if the accommodation has beach wheelchairs or if you can rent one.

Insurance

You need to check that the travel insurance covers medical treatment and does not exclude “a pre-existing medical condition”.

Travel insurance is essential when going abroad. It is often worth shopping around to make sure you get best value for money. Make sure your travel insurance covers cancellations and loss or damage of property, including any equipment. (Equipment can sometimes be covered through your home insurance.)

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 makes it illegal for insurance companies to charge a disabled person more for an insurance policy without evidence that proves that the disabled person is a greater risk than a non-disabled person.

If you are travelling within the European Economic Area and Switzerland you need to get an European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). The Department of Health, working with the NHS Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA), provides the EHIC free of charge. This card replaces the older E111, which has not been valid since 1 January 2006. You can apply for a card over the phone on 0845 606 2030, online at www.ehic.org.uk or pick up an application form from the Post Office.

The insurance providers listed below specialise in catering for disabled people or people with a pre-existing medical condition.

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign cannot endorse any particular insurance company; you need to make sure that you are happy with the company you choose.

Chartwell Insurance
Provides low cost travel insurance for people with a pre-existing medical condition.
Tel: 0845 2607 051/52
Email: info@chartwellinsurance.co.uk
Web: www.chartwellinsurance.co.uk

En Route Insurance
Provides low-cost travel insurance for people with a pre-existing medical condition. Sometimes it refers cases to a medical screening line for assessment.
Tel: 0800 783 7245
Email: info@enrouteinsurance.co.uk
Web: www.enrouteinsurance.co.uk

Freespirit
Provides low-cost travel insurance for people with a pre-existing medical condition as long as you are fit to travel. A doctor’s letter is required. You also have to be clear of hospital waiting lists for treatment or medical investigation.
Tel: 0845 230 5000
Email: freespirit@pjhayman.com
Web: www.free-spirit.com

The Insurance Helpline
Provides travel insurance for people with a pre-existing medical condition.
Tel: 0800 377 7763
Email: webenquiry@totallyinsuredgroup.co.uk
Web: www.theinsurancehelpline.co.uk

List of insurers
www.the-insurance-surgery.co.uk

Holiday finance

There are a number of trusts and voluntary funds available which may be able to contribute towards the cost of a holiday. Five such organisations are listed below. Local authorities (social services departments) may also be able to offer some assistance.

Counsel and Care for the Elderly
May be able to help people over the age of 60 with the cost of a holiday.

Lower Ground Floor
Twyman House
16 Bonny Street
London NW1 9PG
Tel: 020 7241 8555 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) or
Adviceline: 0845 300 7585 (Mon-Fri10am-12pm, 2-4pm except Wed pm)
Email: advice@counselandcare.org.uk
Web: www.counselandcare.org.uk


The Family Fund
May be able to offer assistance for holidays to severely disabled children under 16 in the UK.

Unit 4, Alpha Court
Monks Cross Drive
Huntington
York, YO32 9WN
Tel: 0845 130 4542
Web: www.familyfund.org.uk


FHA - The Family Holiday Association
This is a holiday charity for families in need which may provide funding for a one-week holiday in the UK. Application should be made between October and November for the following year as funds tend to be spent by March.

The Grants Officer
16 Mortimer Street
London
W1T 3JL
Tel: 020 7436 3304
Email: info@FamilyHolidayAssociation.org.uk
Web: www.fhaonline.org.uk

3H Fund (Help the Handicapped Holiday Fund)
Organises subsidised group holidays for disabled children and adults. It also provides grants, when available, to families on low income.

147A Camden Road
Turnbridge Wells
Kent
TN1 2RA
Tel: 01892 547 474
Email:info@3hfund.org.uk
Web:www.3hfund.org.uk

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign has produced a factsheet called Dream trips and wishes for children and young adults. You can get the factsheet from our Information and Support Line on 020 7803 4800 or freephone 0800 652 6352 or you can print it from our website: www.muscular-dystrophy.org/factsheets



Advice on holidays and travel

Tourism for All
Tourism for All work is a voluntary organisation that provides free information and advice to disabled adults and children, carers, single parent families and elderly people. It provides details about accessible accommodation, transport, special interest holidays, insurance and respite care. It also publishes a range of information sheets about parts of the UK where you can holiday and the rest of the world.

Tourism for All tries to match up a person's specific needs with information held on its computer database, once a holiday questionnaire form has been completed. It covers holidays offered by commercial organisations and holidays organised by voluntary groups in the UK and abroad.

Some of the hotels and self-catering accommodation inspected and listed by Tourism for All are offered at discounted rates for members through its reservation line 0845 124 9973.

Tourism for All
Tfa c/o Vitalise
Shap Road Industrial Estate
Shap Road Kendal Cumbria LA9 6NZ
Tel: 0845 124 9971
Email: info@tourismforall.org.uk
Web: www.tourismforall.org.uk

Providers of accessible holidays

Access Travel
Specialises in holidays for disabled people and provides wheelchair accessible accommodations abroad. Special aids, adapted vehicles, nursing and care are also available at some locations.
Tel: 01942 888 844
Email: webenq@access-travel.co.uk
Web: www.access-travel.co.uk

Assistance Travel Service
Provides tailor-made holidays and arrange door-to-door service. Personal care can be arranged at a number of destinations across the world.
Tel: 01708 863 198
Email: aatstravel@aol.com
Web: www.assistedholidays.com

Break
Provides holidays and respite care for disabled children, young adults and families with special needs at two centres in Norfolk.
Tel: 01263 822 161
Email: office@break-charity.org
Web:www.break-charity.org

Bond Hotel
 A specialist hotel in Blackpool catering solely for guests who are disabled, have learning difficulties or additional needs.
Tel: 01253 341218
Email: karen-dixon@bondhotel.co.uk
Web: www.bondhotel.co.uk

Calvert Trust
 Has three centres for activity and outdoor holidays in the UK.
Exmoor Tel: 01598 763 221, email: exmoor@calvert-trust.org.uk
Kielder Tel: 01434 250 232, email:enquires@calvert-keilder.com
Keswick Tel: 01768 772 255, email:enquires.calvert.keswick@dial.pipex.com
Web:www.calvert-trust.org.uk

Enable Holidays
 Provides overseas holidays for disabled people, their families and friends.
Tel: 0871 222 4939
Email: info@enableholidays.com
Web: www.enableholidays.com

Grooms Holidays
 Provides fully accessible hotels in Minehead, Somerset, Cowbridge, South Glamorgan and Llandudno, Gwynedd. They have various self-catering units, including bungalows, chalets, and caravans in the UK at sites such as Wroxham in Norfolk, and Brockley Park, Poole, Dorset. A flat is also available for hire in London.
Tel: 0845 6584 478
Email: holidays@johngrooms.org.uk
Web: www.grooms-shaftesbury.org.uk

Holidays with Help
 Organises holidays for large groups of people with disabilities. It has a team of volunteers that assists the guests on locations in Blackpool and the South Downs.
Tel: 020 8390 9752
Email: holidays.with.help@lineone.net
Web: www.holidayswithhelp.org.uk

Jubilee Sailing Trust
 It aims to promote integration of disabled and able-bodied adults through adventure tall ship holidays. It also has a youth scheme for 16 to 25 years old.
Tel: 0870 443 5783
Email: info@jst.org.uk
Web: www.jst.org.uk

Leonard Cheshire Disability
Provides respite care and short break services to disabled people and their carers. Fees are based on assessed need and level of support required. You can find a search engine for respite care and short breaks across UK on its website.
Tel: 020 7802 8200
Email: info@LCDisability.org
Web: www.leonard-cheshire.org

PHAB UK
 Organises holidays for disabled and able-bodied adults and children. Courses cover subjects such as art, pottery, music, drama, photography, activity holidays, canoeing and horse riding.
Tel: 020 8667 9443
Email: info@phabengland.org.uk
Web: www.phabengland.org.uk

SHARE Holiday Village
A fully accessible site for individuals and families in Northern Ireland.
Tel: 028 6772 2122
Email: info@sharevillage.org
Web: www.sharevillage.org

St Anne’s Hotel
This is a wheelchair accessible hotel with equipment such as ceiling tracked hoist and ensuite level access showers. Close to Blackpool in Lancashire.
Tel: 01253 713 108
Email: enquiries@st-annes-hotel.com
Web: www.st-annes-hotel.com

Vitalise
Provides breaks for disabled people and their carers in five centres across the UK. It also provides 24-hour personal care-on-call. Vitalise’s centre in Southamton, the Netley Waterside House specialises in providing holidays for people with respiratory difficulties. Specialised equipment is available including hoists, a possum unit, an oxygen concentrator and iron lung. The other centres are located in Cornwall, Essex, Nottingham and Southport. Vitalise also have self-catering lodges in Cornwall and provides European breaks with partner organisations.
Tel: 0845 345 1972
Email:info@vitalise.org.uk
Web:www.vitalise.org.uk


For more information about travel agents, tour operators and camping, you can log on to the following websites:
www.accessibletravel.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/holiday/accessible_travel/ 
www.everybody.co.uk
www.canbedone.co.uk 
www.goodaccessguide.co.uk

Remember, it is always advisable to check all the details listed in brochures and travel guides to make sure that the holiday and/or accommodation is suitable for your individual needs.

Other useful contacts

Carry My Luggage
Provides luggage delivery with a door-to-door service for UK, Europe, USA and other worldwide destinations.
Tel: 0870 116 4892
Booking: 0845 009 0362
Web:www.carrymyluggage.com

House swaps

Matching Houses
 A house exchange website where people with disabilities swap houses with other people that have the same accessibility needs.
Tel: 01736 361 871
Email:pr@matchinghouses.com
Web:www.matchinghouses.com


New Jumbulance Travel Trust
Makes it possible for severely disabled and sick people to travel on holiday and day trips. Provides rental coach ambulances equipped with stretcher beds, reclining seats, accessible toilets, oxygen and hydraulic lift for easy access.
Tel: 01582 831 444
Email:njtt@clara.co.uk
Web:www.jumbulance.org.uk

RADAR
Runs the National Key Scheme for 7,000 accessible locked toilets across the country. All accessible toilets are listed in its publication National Key Scheme Guide. It publishes a book called There and Back, that helps disabled people plan longer journeys in the UK and abroad across all models of transport. RADAR also publishes Holidays in Britain and Ireland. As a Member of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign you can buy the publications at a 25% discount if you quote the reference MDC/RADAR/RO/001 when you place your order.
Tel: 020 7250 3222
Email: radar@radar.org.uk
Web: www.radar.org.uk



Translation of medical information

If you are travelling abroad you might find it useful to bring translated information on your condition in case of an emergency.

Transmedi
 Tel: 0116 337 640
Web: www.transmedi.com

Doctor Babel
Tel: 01983 883 440
Email: support@doctorbabel.com
Web:  www.doctorbabel.com