Combe Down Holiday Trust's aim is to support disabled people, both those with permanent disabilities and those disabled through illness – such as cancer – enabling them, their families and/or carers to have a short break, holiday or respite care, or to simply have a day out. The offer of a holiday provides an enhanced quality to a life that may have lacked such an experience.

Donations made to us are used entirely for charitable purposes, not for administration or advertising.

The overwhelming majority of our clients are on low-incomes, state benefits, or are pensioners with small occupational pensions that preclude them from benefits. This leaves them very disadvantaged financially. We also have a number of clients who have mental health problems who are also on very limited incomes – often barely enough to live on.

For families and particularly carers, exhausted by the demands on them, the need for a holiday is often great. On occasions the Trust provides a break for the carer alone, where a crisis or breakdown in care could otherwise occur. When you are caring 24/7/365, the need for a break can become overwhelming.

By offering a break albeit for a short space of time, the carer has their own life back, and is given a chance to recharge their batteries, which can be vital in ensuring their ability to carry on with their caring role.

The therapy of a holiday is well known: providing rest and recuperation, and for children, a chance to broaden their experience of life and the world. Childhood memories often remain as wonderful images for the rest of one’s life.