Short Breaks

Community Short Breaks provide group activities for children and young people with disabilities to relax, have fun, make new friends and develop independence skills.

Activities last up to 2 hours during term time and school holidays. Our aim is to ensure that all children accessing the service have the support they need to engage in community based activities.

If your child or young person requires additional support, you may be able to request this from our Targeted Short Breaks Service. This support can be identified through the Short Breaks Panel.

To see the latest Term-Time and School Holiday activity timetables, go to our What's On page.

Accessing Community Short Breaks

See our flowchart summarising how you access Community Short Breaks.

Community Short Breaks are available for children and young people aged between 5 and 17 years of age (inclusive) who:

• Live in Coventry
• Have a diagnosed disability

To register to access Community Short Breaks for the first time, you need to:

• Complete a Short Breaks Passport
• Submit a copy of a Disability Living Allowance (DLA) letter or evidence of a diagnosed disability either by letter from a relevant professional or by confirmation from your child's school.

These documents can be emailed to CSCCDT@coventry.gov.uk. Please put the initials of the child in the subject line of the email followed by 'Community Short Breaks'.

Alternatively you can send these documents by post to:

Community Short Breaks
Children Disability Team
PO BOX 15
Council House
Coventry
CV1 5RR

Please note, we DO NOT accept hand-delivered post. If you try to submit by hand, it will not be accepted.

The Short Breaks Development Officer will contact you about your application and the current availability of individual sessions.

Booking a Short Break

Once you have been registered for Community Short Breaks and have spoken to the Short Breaks Development Officer, you will be able to book onto a session. 

See the What's On page for a full listing of the activities available. Please note that spaces are limited, however you will be able to select activities in order of preference.

• Book a Community Short Breaks session during school holidays online or call us on 024 7697 5464. Please note that you can only have 1 booking per week and 1 on the waiting list during the school holidays.

The holiday activity schedule will be released on our What's On page, through email and by post. Bookings for School Holidays are only open for the dates outlined on the activity schedule. Any booking requests received before these dates for the School Holiday sessions will be rejected and you will be asked to resubmit. Anything submitted after these dates will be added to a waiting list.

If you would like to arrange a visit before booking a session, this can be arranged by contacting CSCCDT@coventry.gov.uk or by calling 024 7678 7980.

Non-attendance term-time Short Breaks

Please note, if a child has not accessed a term-time activity for 3 weeks and the Development Officer has not been informed, you will receive notification that your child has been removed from the activity register to allow another child to take the place. This is due to demand for the service.