Amazing Futures Holiday Scheme and new short breaks provision in Brighton & Hove
Amazing Futures Holiday Scheme is for young people with SEND aged 14-25 in Brighton & Hove, with 4-hour sessions of supported fun at Portslade Village Centre on 6 days of the Easter Holidays (Tues 2 – Thurs 4 April and Tues 9 – Thurs 11 April). The scheme offers 14 places per session: 10 young people in groups of 1:5 staffing, and up to 4 young people with 1:1 support.
This fairly small scale scheme is because we have had limited time for set-up before the Easter holidays; we want to be sure we can staff the scheme safely, meet the needs of the young people attending and provide fun activities which support young people in their transition to adulthood (which is the focus of Amazing Futures).
At Amaze we are aware of the importance of short breaks for families so we are piloting this service at Easter, May half-term and during the summer, after which we will review whether the scheme has worked well for families, and is viable for us to continue. We appreciate this initial offer is limited but we hope families will also be able to access some of the other provision commissioned by Brighton & Hove City Council (BHCC) alongside the Amaze scheme. We know PaCC will be gathering feedback on these new arrangements and continuing to work with BHCC to enhance short breaks services in the city.
How will places be allocated?
Places in the Amaze scheme will be allocated according to a range of factors, our aim being to achieve a balanced and workable group of young people in each daily session. To try to ensure fair access, each young person will be able to book up to 2 sessions in the 6 days of scheme running at Easter. It would be helpful if you can select any dates from the 6 listed which your young person could attend and we will hope to allocate you 2 from these.
How to make a booking
The bookings window will be open from 10am on Monday 26 Feb until 5pm on Monday 4 March. After that, we will review all bookings received and consider the allocation of places possible within the scheme’s capacity. We will seek to confirm bookings with families for Easter by Fri 8 March. We will contact families directly to discuss a booking/gain further information on a young person’s needs if necessary.
Where all 1:1 places have been allocated, but where 1:1 or 1:2 level support is needed for a young person to be able to attend the scheme, we will welcome and support young people attending with a PA / carer if this is an option for them. We may also be able to work with BHCC to secure additional PA support.
There is a £10 contribution towards the costs of running the 4 hour session. This is payable online at the point in time at which a reservation is made, although payment won’t actually be taken until a place is confirmed. So you will only pay for bookings that become confirmed places.
If you wish to book a place and pay the £10 contribution by Direct Payments, please select the ticket option ‘Pay by Direct Payments’. We can then send an invoice as and when your booking is confirmed which can be settled by Direct Payments.
Where paying £10 is a barrier for a young person to attend the scheme, we also ask that you contact us directly to let us know and we will look into alternative options.
Once a session booking has been confirmed, it is non -refundable, due to the holiday scheme taking place so soon in April.
If you do not get a place this time, we will add you to our waiting list in case of cancellations and contact you if a place becomes available. We will also aim to give priority to young people who weren’t able to come this time to get spaces on our schemes in May and July – August.
Further information
To find out more about the Amazing Futures Holiday Scheme, please visit Brighton & Hove SEND Short Breaks/Activities · Eequ or contact [email protected]
Or read Brighton & Hove City Council’s latest statement about its new SEND Short Break and School Holiday Activity programme.
