Breaking from your
daily routine

Young people enjoy a range of activities both at home and in the community. Staff are committed and, in the words of one social worker, ‘go the extra mile’ to make sure that young people have access to exciting and stimulating activities’.

At progress, we recognise that children, young adults and their families sometimes need a break, a change of scenery and the chance to have some fun. For young people, this could be time out doing something completely different, enjoying space to be themselves or meeting with other young people who share similar life challenges.

For parents, a break is also chance to temporarily switch off, recharge batteries and spend quality time alone or with other family members, away from the day-to-day responsibilities of caring. Of course that’s only possible if you know your child is being well cared for. Progress short breaks come in a variety of forms. All of them include the reassurance of our excellent care and support.

Holiday or mini breaks – These allow each young person to access a wider range of experiences and can include trips to the seaside, stays based around theme parks, sporting events or spas etc. Our support team can work with you to deliver a bespoke break at a destination of your choice. You’re welcome to come along too.

Residential short breaks – Where the staff are highly skilled and trained to meet the needs of children and young people with wide ranging disabilities and/or complex care needs. Having good support is of course hugely important, but socialising is also a critical aspect of a residential break. We carefully match young people on every stay, based on their needs, abilities and interests in order to create an environment that is both safe, stimulating, fun and encourages peer relationships. Socialising outside of family and educational settings, enables young people to expand their horizons and truly be themselves. Developing new skills and having outlets for playing and relaxing freely is critical to everyone. We all need to enjoy our childhood regardless of our challenges and progress make sure this is prioritised at every opportunity. For young adults, we also focus on life skills such as cooking, shopping, cleaning, budgeting, using public transport, getting involved with the wider community and mentally preparing for independence. We have residential short breaks homes in the black country, coventry and derby.

Independence breaks – To help young people continue their journey to independence, our supported living apartments allow young people to test the waters and get a feel for what the future could hold. Each break is bespoke and can be planned with friends around shared interests, sports, hobbies or just the play station or music. We focus on experiences that will develop independent life skills and make the transition to adulthood less scary. Our buddy support helps young people navigate the raft of things which living independently requires. It also provides mentoring, helping young people to find their individual identity and place in the world, making dreams and aspirations possible and building confidence and self-esteem. We have apartments in dudley, lichfield, acocks green and wolverhampton, with plans for derby too.

Family-based short breaks, with our registered specialist foster carers. Our foster families are trained to meet the needs of your child prior to their stay. Each family is unique and following careful matching, they can offer a different experience for each child. We have foster families across the west midlands and beyond.