Spectrum Holidays is a registered charity (number 1202291) that provides highly subsidised or free short respite breaks for disabled children. We currently have 2 holiday homes in Northumberland which have been adapted to meet the needs of our beneficiaries and include a sensory area, sensory equipment and communication resources. To help children feel more at home during their break, we also offer a choice of themed bedrooms that the child can choose ahead of their stay. Many of our beneficiaries are autistic and can sometimes find it difficult to process sensory information around them and often struggle with any change to their usual routine – this can make a holiday, with a change of environment, very challenging for them.  Any of the senses can be under or over sensitive – or both at different time, which can lead to increased anxiety and extreme emotional responses (also known as meltdowns) We help by providing the sensory tools they need to manage their anxieties and provide a way of regulating their sensory input while on holiday. Many of the families that contact us have never been able to holiday together as a family due to the needs of the disabled child not being met in mainstream holiday accommodation and parents often have to holiday individually, so the needs of siblings are also met. At Spectrum Holidays we believe that holidays should be accessible to everyone and create a holiday experience that the whole family can enjoy. 

"We found Spectrum Holidays through an autism support group on Facebook. We'd never done a caravan holiday with Grayson before (in fact Jo had never even been in a caravan properly until we went to Haggerston!) and we were understandably anxious.You can see from our first picture how grumpy Grayson is.. the next picture is our second trip and the last one was this last summer. He's a different child and we truly believe that being able to change his environment in a safe space like the spectrum holiday caravans has helped his confidence massively going into new places and situations with school or at home. Our little boy who seemed to hate other children and noise is now regularly trying to join in at school. In a not so little way, Sophia, Malcolm and Luca's hard work with their accommodations has helped his journey. We've already booked for next year and we for one will be using Spectrum for a long long time!Jo, Gareth and Grayson"