Care in the High Street

Hop Skip and Jump have been providing respite care for children and young adults with disabilities and SEN for over thirty years. We currently operate three centres around the South West (Bristol, Cheltenham and Swindon) offering flexible and immediate care to families struggling to cope with the responsibilities of caring for children with disabilities.

Hop Skip and Jump are delighted to announce the launch of ‘Care in the High Street’, an innovative new approach to providing care. Through our long experience of supporting families, we have noticed a very real need for short term care to be available in town centre locations, and, so, easily accessible and close to local amenities. These units would allow parents/carers time off to go shopping, have a coffee or go to the gym knowing that their children are being well looked after in a secure environment by trained professionals.

Our vision is a Hop Skip and Jump on every high street, at every shopping centre and at every stadium. These centralised facilities, equipped with a full changing room, soft play equipment and an activity centre would allow parents and carers to leave their dependants for respite care with our fully trained staff whilst they shop, have dinner or enjoy the big match.

These activities, taken for granted by most, are often inaccessible for those caring for the disabled. We want to open up these locations, driving footfall, whilst improving the lives of the 1 in 10 people coping with some form of disability.

Currently, there is no such provision in place – whilst there are crèche set-ups for the under fives in most places, there is simply not the infrastructure in place to cater for children and young adults with complex needs.

We envisage such a facility not only in pre-existent locations, but as a key part of the provision for the disabled in every new-build establishment. This is a long term vision, one that will make a very real difference to families at breaking point and businesses across the country.