First timer. My local Carers Support group in West London told me about this forum.
I care for my wife. We’re both in our mid-70s. She’s in a wheelchair, can’t walk at all and transfers with a Sera Steady.
I have two quite specific questions.
We’d like to go on holiday and would like any suggestions for something targeted - at least in part - towards wheelchair bound people? Does something like this even exist?
And I’d also like to know about the feasibility of going on holiday with a paid for carer? We do have some help every day and the carers are always very nice. I’d just like to know if anyone else has done or does this? Obviously this would likely be quite costly but we’ve decided to try to live each day as though it’s our last.
Hi Derek. Welcome to the Forum, a place where I guarantee you’ll find a warm welcome and loads of support and advice on practically every topic you can think of.
M husband suffered a stroke 2 1/2 years ago and has mobility problems and we’ve tried to get short breaks or for very short family visits but he can manage to get around with a walking frame so not as difficult as your wife finds things.
Earlier this year I did spend a lot of time researching places where we could go and found quite a lot of cottages/conversions which have bene done to ensure FULL accessibility for wheelchair users, so there are places around. Unfortunately, I didnt keep a note of them as he didn’t need THAT much accessibilty at that time.
I will have another rummage on the net and see what links I can find for you. I know others on here will have more experience of wheelchair accessible venues and also with having Carers - as currently, I manage on my own. That may change because he has been in hospital and now rehab for the last five weeks.
Is there any area which you would favour? What type of environment you you both prefer? Self-catering or hotel? How far are you able to travel from London? Do you want an area where you can get out onto, say, a Promenade or countryside? I know that’s a lot of questions to start with!
Best wishes,
Chris
One immediate thought - you could try contacting some of the holiday let websites and ask if they have ‘filters’ which give details of those properties which are TOTALLY wheelchair accessible. I have seen some where huge amount of thought has been put in and they have rise and fall wash basins and hoists fitted or available on request. It could just take a phone call or an email and what’s the worst they can say…‘no we don’t’ !! get THEM to do the work for you
I agree with Chris. I contacted a small family hotel chain and asked about accessibility in their hotels and got answers from almost all of the hotels directly. We ended up with a choice of two or three that could meet my wife’s access needs.
If you’re needing places with ceiling hoists, then it may be worth contacting disability charities in your area - some of them run specially-adapted bungalows, etc. There’s one in my area that runs a couple of bungalows in Overstrand - scroll to the bottom of the page on this link: Creating Opportunties | Mosaic 1898
If you google “holidays for disabled and carers” you’ll get quite a few hits,
I’ve just done that and Respite Holidays | Accessible Holidays for Disabled, Elderly & Carers | Revitalise came up. I know that Revitalise have been around for quite along time. I haven’t used them myself but do know that a couple of previous Carers UK members did use them and were very satisfied as they were able to leave the person they cared for in safe hands whilst they had some “me time” on their own… Certainly worth looking into to ?
I think my wife and I would prefer an hotel, so that it can be a bit more of a holiday for us both.
We haven’t had a holiday since 2019, when my wife was a little more mobile, but we both enjoyed going to Morecambe and also Torquay. Both of which had lovely views of the estuary and the bay respectively.
We probably need to find somewhere a little closer.
And I suppose there could also be a possibility of hiring local carers to help out. Maybe others have done that too.
We don’t need a hoist at the moment and I hope that won’t be needed soon either. I was hoping my wife might be able to get on with a Raiser Pro but I haven’t tried her with one yet, maybe after bit of training.
And I must admit that I never even heard of Overstrand but that does look very interesting.
That link looks very interesting and will give it a bit more attention later on. Both my wife and I enjoy sitting around watching the world go by if we can. Somewhere with nice food, if possible. Neither of us are anti-social but we’re not particularly outgoing, I must admit.
