Accessible Breaks
The RAF Benevolent Fund is proud to provide Accessible Breaks, as part of our welfare services for members of the RAF Family. We believe everybody deserves a stress-free holiday, free from the worry of whether accommodation is accessible or not.
We have a wonderful selection of places to stay, all over the UK, which meet the needs of whole families or accompanying carers with a wide range of leisure activities and pursuits.
To meet its aims, the Fund has invested in the Holiday Property Bond and currently offers over eighty holidays each year in the UK. Each accommodation unit has been adapted extensively to make it suitable for those with mobility issues, particularly those in wheelchairs, with wide door widths and level access showers.
The apartments are fully equipped and include linen and maid service. For attendees requiring additional specialist mobility equipment such as recliner chairs, hoists, and hospital beds during their holiday we can assist with sourcing items locally for short term rental.
Holiday costs including travel, insurance, food, drink, specialist mobility equipment rental and other incidentals are the responsibility of the attendees.
About the Scheme
For those with mobility issues, finding suitably adapted accommodation can be more easily said than done.
The aim of the scheme is to make it possible for the RAF family with mobility issues to take a holiday in suitably adapted accommodation alongside their family members and carers (if required).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The scheme, previously known as the Disabled Holiday Trust, was formed in 1982 to provide accessible holiday accommodation for people with mobility issues. Despite assurances, they had arrived at their costly destinations only to find that the doors were too narrow, bathrooms and toilets inaccessible, rooms too small, lifts too tight, beds too high or too low, and a multitude of steps to contend with.
In other words, they could not get the access they needed. Since 1982, hundreds of people have enjoyed stress free holidays in beautiful locations which they would not be able to experience without the Accessible Breaks scheme.
A list of holiday locations available is shown below. Further details on each location are available to download below in our brochure. Access guides for each location are also available via the links.
England
Blore Hall, Peak District - access guide
Buckland Court, Cotswolds - access guide
Duloe Manor, Cornwall - access guide
Langton House, Dorset - access guide
Lodge Yard, Askrigg, Yorkshire Dales - access guide
Lower Knapp Farm, Devon - access guide
Lucker Hall, Northumberland - access guide
Merlewood, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria - access guide
Northway Court, Devon - access guide
Sibton Park, Kent - access guide
Upper Norton, Shropshire - access guide
Scotland
Coo Hall, Galloway - access guide
Tigh Mor Trossachs, Perthshire - access guide
Wales
Henllys, Anglesey - access guide
St Brides Castle, Pembrokeshire - access guide
Useful Documents
Download a full listing of all our holidays
Read the HPB Rules and Regulations
To apply for a holiday please complete our application form.
Serving and former RAF personnel who have a mobility issue, or a dependant with a mobility issue, can apply for an Accessible Break.
Our eligibility criteria for the Scheme are:
- The qualifying person has a disability that prevents them from using ‘standard’ hotel accommodation and meets one of the below.
- Be registered blind.
- Receive the higher rate of DLA/PIP Mobility.
- Receive the War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement.
- Receive an on-going Guaranteed Income Payment for having a permanent disability causing an inability or significant difficulty in walking.
- Receive Attendance Allowance.
We offer holiday accommodation free of charge to those who meet the disability criteria and are on a means tested benefit.
Means tested benefits include:
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
- Income Support
- Income related Employment and Support Allowance
- Income based job seekers allowance
- Housing benefit
- Working and child tax credits
This must be evidenced by 3 months of bank statements or an entitlement letter (less than 3 months old) in line with the Funds welfare policy.
Those who are not on a means tested benefit will be asked to contribute a nominal amount towards the cost of the holiday.
It is a condition that the qualifying person goes on the holiday.
We invest in the Holiday Property Bond, a commercial organisation with properties that are suitably adapted for the severely disabled.
The objective is to integrate disabled people into holiday developments primarily for the use of able-bodied people in self-catering accommodation where there is a choice between a restful break and full participation in normal holiday and social activities. We undertake the co-ordination of the holiday reservation process.
The holiday facilities we provide are long-term acquisitions, so funds invested are not spent on one-off holidays – it goes on helping many disabled people year after year. We offer self-catering holiday accommodation free of charge to those who meet the disability criteria and are on a means tested benefit. Those who are not on a means tested benefit will be asked to contribute a nominal amount towards the cost of the holiday. In special cases the trust will make a referral for financial support to the RAF Benevolent fund for travel or other incidental costs.
We aim to offer a holiday every 2-3 years.
For more information about our accessible breaks, please get in touch.
- Address: The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, 67 Portland Place, London W1B 1AR
- Email: accessiblebreaks@rafbf.org.uk
- Telephone: 020 7307 3338
Applications can be made online or by downloading our application form and posting it to us.
Make your application online
A printable version of the application form is available here to download.