The Yorkshire family creating accessible holiday homes for people with complex physical disabilities

"I think you have to be in a disability community to truly understand that feeling of being enabled,” says Harrogate-based Jo. “The positive feedback is overwhelming and it fills our hearts. Opening this has been challenging but it’s the best thing without a doubt that we’ve ever done.”

Jo and Charles are parents to 14-year-old Kit, who suffered a brain injury at birth, resulting in quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy. He uses a wheelchair, and cannot walk, or talk unaided. But he is feisty, and determined, and with the help of a Stephen Hawking-style computer, he can talk and laugh and play Fifa with his friends. Kit and his family have lived experience of facing accessibility challenges when going on holidays or short breaks. "Kit has access needs,” Jo explains. “He’s a full time wheelchair user, we need a hoist, we need a much bigger bathroom...In our world, you have to look for accommodation that would meet his needs and go with that because there’s such little choice.

“When you’ve got lived experience, it’s so evident that AbleStay is needed. Kit is now nearly 15 and we struggle to go away. Whenever we do, it’s a compromise...As Kit’s parents, it’s very apparent for us where the holes are in life and we live the frustrations everyday.”

Eight years ago, Jo set up a number of groups on Facebook, designed to provide a support network for those with experience of complex physical disability. One of them was specifically focused on accessible holidays and day trips. Jo recalls how back in 2019 a woman with motor neurone disease posted in the group about wanting to travel to London for a getaway but needing somewhere with a profiling (adjustable) bed, ceiling hoist and a properly accessible bathroom.

“We said, no problem, we’ll see if we can find you something,” Jo recounts. “But Charles and I searched high and low and we couldn’t find anything that would be suitable...We posted back to her that we couldn’t find anything, but I said Charles will build you one and that’s how it happened. Four months later he gave up his job and we started focusing on AbleStay.”

Friends and family have helped the couple, lending them money for the project, and they’ve also had the backing of several Yorkshire companies, who have provided equipment and services. Jo explains how too often, disabled people avoid travelling because it is “too difficult”. Accessible accommodation means much more than a wider door and some grab rails, she says, and disabled people shouldn’t miss out on experiences that non-disabled people take for granted.

“Now we’re 99 per cent full for the rest of this year and bookings are flooding in for 2024. So many of our guests are grateful to just enjoy a bath. We have put into our accessible bathroom a height adjustable bath. At home, because of lack of space, a lot of people lose a bath and put in a wet room and shower. So many of our guests say it’s been such a joy. People are also creating precious memories and for families, that’s really important…Without the accommodation there they couldn’t do it. For Charles and I, it’s so heartwarming to know that we’ve enabled that.”

Jo and Charles, a former army officer who has also worked in IT, made it their mission to ensure Kit’s life is “exceptional in every way” – and that means finding a solution to every challenge. With that determination and passion, they have also made change for others – and they want to keep going. They now have investment to expand and are searching for the right property to become a fully accessible holiday home here in Yorkshire. That, Jo says, is the next dream, though her ambitions are much wider. “We would love to be in all major UK cities. That would be amazing. We would also love to continue fundraising so that we can provide funded stays for families who can’t afford them but need respite breaks away from home.”

For more, visit ablestay.co.uk