Useful Links - Play and Leisure

Special Needs Activity Centres

Thames Valley Adventure Playground, Buckinghamshire Adventure playground catering for all needs - Taplow, Berkshire
Disability Challengers, Surrey Provide facilities and playschemes for children with special needs - Guildford, Surrey.
Jumparound, Oxfordshire Indoor play activity centre - Witney, Oxfordshire.
S.N.A.P, Staffordshire Indoor and outdoor play centre for children with special needs - Cannock, Staffordshire.
Vitalise a national charity providing short breaks (respite care) and other services for disabled people, visually impaired people, and carers.
Alessandre Special Needs Dance School Dance school for special needs

Days Out

Companion Cycling Specially adapted duo cycles/trikes controlled by the able rider at Bushy Park, South West London.
Walks with Wheelchairs Tried and tested wheelchair friendly walks in the UK.
Spelthorne Farm Project Farm in Middlesex for special needs providing hands on experience with farm animals and horse riding
Pecorama Model railways and children's play area – Seaton, Devon.
Cotswold Wildlife Park Wildlife park and gardens - Burford, Oxfordshire.
Kids out Fund kids day out, activities and grants
Monkey World Monkeys and other animals - Wareham, Dorset

Toys & Games

Music Kids Music Classes in Edinburgh for children with additional needs.
True to Life Special needs, Sensory, Educational Resources. Wooden toys for indoor play.
National Association of Toy Libraries Providing play equipment and toys for loan
Suffolk Playworks Manufacturers of wooden toys and nursery furniture
AbleData A range of swim aids for kids and adults of all sizes. It is a US based site with links to suppliers. Check each supplier for International shipping policy.
Amusica Musical Instruments The first website in the uk to specialise in offering a full range of children's quality and award winning musical instruments.. Has a section on musical instruments for Special Needs
Sense Toys Sells toys and activities for children with special needs to help language and play skills. It also features play ideas for each product.
Bouncy Happy People Provide indoor and outdoor toys.
Beyond Play "Beyond Play focuses on young children with special needs. Our goal is to bring you a great selection of products that are all appropriate for Early Intervention. Our catalog and web site are for professionals of all disciplines, as well as for parents and caregivers."
Cbeebies Pre school games.
Do2Learn "Games, songs, communication cards, print resources, and information for special needs."
Let's Discover Games for children aged 3+ and information for parents. No SN section but nice simple games for all children.
Priorywoods School A lovely site with useful information from a special needs school in Middlesbrough.
ROMPA Sensory toys, furniture, switches and much more.
The Great Little Trading Company No SN section but a great selection of toys and craft ideas especially for sensory play and much more.
The Dyscovery Centre "The Dyscovery Centre provides a specialist and high quality service with an inter-disciplinary team helping individuals with living and learning difficulties."
Fledglings - "Fledglings is a not-for-profit organisation which helps parents and carers of a child with special needs of any kind to find simple, affordable solutions to practical problems. We offer a free product search service to locate toys, clothing, developmental aids and other items which may stimulate the child's development or give relief to the carer. Many such products are kept in stock and we can obtain many more from the wide range of manufacturers and suppliers we deal with."
Just Outdoor Toys Garden toys, including swings for disabled children of all ages.
Community Play Things Sand and water playthings and more.
TFH Toys "For 20 years TFH has worked with Special Education Teachers, Occupational Therapists, and Day Habilitation centres, playing a part in the huge strides that have been made in the treatment of mental retardation, developmental delay and the understanding of disorders such as Autism and Alzheimer's that effect the physical and mental lives of our customers."
STEPS Special Toys Educational Postal Service - STEPS provide a free services for children between the ages of 2 and 16 who are unable to play with battery operated toys. They buy and adapt the toys with switches suitable for the individual child. The switches are provided on long term loan, the toy is changed every 3 months.
Sensory Plus Sensory products

Holiday companies

accessatlast ltd One stop information site for worldwide accessible accommodation and transport information.
Break Helps and supports by providing specialist care services through holidays and respite services
Daisy Chain Project Offers rent free accommodation in Blackpool for respite break for families
Forest School Camps Outdoor camps, teaching how to live with independence and responsibility
National Holiday Fund Takes chronically, terminally ill, temporarily or permanently physically disabled children on holiday to Florida.
Accessible Travel and Leisure Brochures for worldwide holidays for disabled people
Over the Wall Residential camps for children who have life threatening illnesses and also camps for siblings.
Holiday Care Provide information about transport, holiday accommodation and visitor attractions
The Bruce Trust Canal boat holidays for disabled people and their carers.
The Thomas Centre Holiday Accommodation for families with communication impaired children
Scout Holiday Caravans Self catering holiday accommodation for families with special needs, (irrespective of scouting connections), all on fully commercial sites
Blagdon Farm A self catering accessible cottage complex in Devon with heated indoor hydrotherapy pool and much more.
Disabled Holiday Directory Links and help for holidays in the UK and abroad
Enable Holidays Exciting package holidays for disabled people, their families and friends
Livability The UK's largest supplier of accessible holiday properties
The Harriet Davis Seaside Holiday Trust "The Trust provides three self-catering holiday houses in Tanby, Pembrokeshire, UK which are fully adapted and equipped for families with disabled children. The houses, with convenient parking, are near to the Town and beaches and are available all year."
Holidaycare A national charity and the UK's central source of travel information and support for disabled people and their carers.
Todsworthy Farm, cornwall "Both cottages have completely level access to the wide front door and large bathrooms downstairs with wet floor shower areas and grab rails around the toilet and shower and fold down seat. The other downstairs rooms are spacious and easy to move around. We can appreciate that the accommodation may not be suitable for everyone but please discuss with us individual needs."
Holidays For All "Holidays For All offers holiday accommodation throughout the UK and overseas for people with disabilities and sensory impairments, their freinds and family."
Special Diet Holidays A chateau in France that caters for many different diets, Coeliacs (gluten and wheat free), vegetarians, dairy free, egg intolerant and any or all allergy based diets.
The Calvert Trust Outdoor activities for disabled people.
Tourism For All Tourism For All works to improve access and raise awareness.
Wheeling Around the Algarve Everything you need for a holiday in the Algarve for disabled people.
Spinal Injuries Association A good link to a list of holidays abroad
Park Resorts Self catering holiday parks across the UK with adapted caravans for disabled holidaymakers.
Holidoze Great travel cot and bumper!
Large Holiday Houses in Scotland Some lovely houses in Scotland, some with good disabled access.
Vitalise Churchtown an accessible residential activity centre in the heart of Cornwall, providing respite breaks and day activities for people with physical, sensory and learning difficulties.
Disabled United Holiday Section This website is aimed at disabled adults. It has a good holiday section to find accommodation in the UK and abroad.
Assisted Holidays Holidays worldwide for disabled people and their families.
Can be Done "For 20 years Can be Done has offered not only a wide range of exciting holidays for all, but have specialised in original and pioneering wheelchair accessible holidays to a widening choice of destinations. Our motivation is driven not only by our own, but also by our customers' ever increasing wish to travel."
Cruising Holiday "Disability doesn't stop you from wanting to have a holiday; nor should it make it impossible, either. Indeed, more and more people with a wide range of physical, sensory or learning impairments - along with their families or carers - are able to enjoy the same freedom, choice and autonomy as non-disabled people when looking for that getaway from the normal daily routine."
Self Catering on Skye A self catering cottage with good wheelchair access.
Culbin Crofthouse Holiday cottages on the Bonnie Black Isle.
Kingfisher Caravan Park "Kingfisher Caravan Park is situated near Stokes Bay in Gosport, Hampshire. It is just a short walk away from a beautiful pebble beach, with views across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. We have excellent access for our disabled visitors, winning the Gosport Council Accessibility Award in 1999."
I Need a Holiday Too Holiday in France. This company has accessible accommodation, transport, carers, in fact, just about anything you could need.
Buttercup Barn, Isle of Wight "The old Haybarn has been sympathetically renovated to a high specification into an outstanding family holiday home. Surrounded by farmland with spectacular views where your only visitors are wild birds and other animals. The barn stands in an acre of land, tucked away down a country lane and approached by its own long gated drive. All accommodation on one level for easy access."
C & A Tourist Apartments Wheelchair accessible holiday in Cyprus - Evas Tourist Apartments in Polis.
Disability Snow Sport UK Providing exciting and life enhancing snow sport activities for individuals or groups who require adaptive equipment and/or special instruction and support.
Transmedi A simple, secure and straightforward answer to the issue of travelling with medical conditions. Transmedi is a unique system where you carry a record of your current medical conditions and allergies in english and translated in the country that you are visiting.
Woodhead Cottages Fully accessible, self-catering holiday cottages for the physically disabled situation in Dulnain Bridge, the Scottish Highlands.

Specialist Travel Insurance

All Clear Telephone number: 0845 010 0071
Chartwell Insurance Telephone number: 0845 260 7051/2
Free Spirit Telephone number: 0845 230 5000
Medi Cover Telephone number: 0870 353 600
MRL Insurance Telephone number: 0870 876 7677
Orbis Telephone number: 01424 220 110
Insurance Surgery Telephone number: 0800 849 6444
Travelability Telephone number: 0845 338 1638
Premia Mobility Telephone number: 0870 907 9617
Freedom Telephone number: 0870 774 3760