Short Breaks

Service Description: Short Breaks is a statutory service funded through Children's Services by the Isle of Wight Council and aims to increase activity opportunities available for children and young people with disabilities and/or additional needs to participate in.

Section 25 of the Children and Young Persons Act 2005 creates the requirement for local authorities to provide Short Breaks for Disabled Children. As a result of this, the Government made a commitment to Short Breaks through the implementation of a new Short Break Duty which came into effect form April 2011 and created a legal duty on local authorities to provide a range of Short Break services.

The Short Breaks services available for children and young people with disabilities and/or additional needs on the Isle of Wight are covered by the other sections of this website. Currently Short Breaks offer a range of activity opportunties including after-school, evenings and weekend activities and overnight stays.

In additional to this, Short Breaks offer the Short Breaks Caravan, Beach Hut and Lodge facilities to increase accessible opportunities for children and young people with disabilities and/or additional and their families through the Short Breaks programme. Short Breaks also have a range of resources available to support increasing access to services for children and young people with disabilities and/or additional needs and their families on the Isle of Wight.