Frequently Asked Questions

Where does ABOAB get its funding?

We have relied on people fundraising for us through a range of activities and events such as sponsored runs, bike rides, coffee mornings, craft sales, ceilidhs, and local church collections. We sometimes receive direct donations from people who simply heard about us and thought it was such a great idea. We’re now starting to submit applications to community funds and larger grant-making bodies to help us grow and offer more holidays to more people living with terminal illness.

How can I fundraise for ABOAB?

You can do anything you wish, however big or small! Please contact us on fundraising@abitofabreak.com and we will send you our logo, a template for your sponsor form, posters, and other support you might need. We will happily feature your event/activities in our regular newsletter and website and post it on our Facebook page too. Good luck and thank you.

Can I join with others to help fundraise for ABOAB?

Yes! There are local ‘ABOAB supporter groups’ in the Worth Valley and Liverpool and we hope to have a new group forming in Ilkley too. Contact us by email on fundraising@abitofabreak.com and we will put you in touch with the relevant person.

I’ve heard about Project Lighthouse. How can I get involved?

If you enjoy cycling, love the coast, and like a challenge, Project Lighthouse is for you. It’s Matthew Sturgeon’s adventure and his plan is to cycle around the entire coast of mainland Britain whilst visiting and blogging all 170 lighthouses! The journey is being broken into sections so anyone and everyone can join in the fun. If you’d like to be involved, contact Matthew on 07939 295230 or email him at matthewsturgeon@icloud.com

How do I pay my donation to ABOAB?

You can pay money straight into our bank account (A Bit of a Break, 30-98-97 68736360) or through our JustGiving page https://www.justgiving.com/abitofabreak  Please send us an email to tell us that you’ve made a payment (fundraising@abitofabreak.com) so that we know who you are and can send you a thank you!

How do I offer my holiday property into your scheme?

We’re always so delighted to hear of possible new properties! There are a few things to consider, and these are set out in the questions and answers below.

What types of properties do you need?

We welcome all types of holiday properties – cottages, bungalows, apartments, lodges, and caravans – and properties are offered to our patients on a self-catering basis. It helps if properties are commercially let as this gives a degree of quality assurance and a sense that safety standards will be in place.

Does the location of the property matter?

Coastal, lake/river or rural locations are popular, but all locations are welcome. We have properties in the Lake District, on the Northumberland and Yorkshire coasts, Bronte Country, the Yorkshire Dales, and Blackpool. We’re especially looking for seaside properties in North Wales for people referred from the Liverpool area and also properties in Derbyshire and the Peak District.

What about access?

Access issues may be important to some of our guests so properties with easy or level access at the front door, a toilet on the ground floor and even better, a ground floor bedroom and bathroom with walk-in shower/wet-room, are always welcomed. Accessible parking for easy drop-off of passengers and luggage is also helpful.

Our holiday property is used only by family & friends. Will that work?

Please think about the logistics of the property being used by strangers. Are your personal belongings difficult to remove or hide away? Also, our guests may not be enjoying optimum health so might want to sit and relax in the property all day or stay in bed longer than usual. Is the lounge furniture and bed comfortable enough for this? Finally, some of our guests have compromised mobility. Is the property and garden safe for people who may be frail on their feet?

Who does the cleaning?

We ask that properties are fully clean, and beds all made up so that guests don’t have the worry of these jobs on arrival or before their departure. A high standard of cleanliness really matters as our guests may be immuno-compromised or more prone to infection. So, do you have a reliable cleaning service and laundry facility for change-over day?

Is my property suitable?

We hope so! Consider the list below of the simple headings from our Property Checklist. This will help you think about whether you’re likely to meet our safety requirements.

I think my property is suitable. What should I do?
Please email us on properties@abitofabreak.com and we will send you our full Property Checklist and Property Information Sheet to complete and return to us. We will also provide our direct phone number for you to contact us to talk about any areas of uncertainty if you are unsure.

How soon will ABOAB start using our property?
As soon as we’ve assured ourselves that your property is suitable, we’ll add it straight into our scheme and start looking for suitable matches with those on our waiting list and again when someone is newly referred.  We’ll keep checking your on-line availability ourselves and if we see an un-filled week on the horizon, we’ll contact you about it if we have someone suitable on our waiting list. We also ask you to let us know if you have an un-booked week ahead that we might use, and this can be at just 3- or 4-weeks’ notice or several months away.

What about the formalities?
At ABOAB we see ourselves as an introducer and the agreement for the booking is between you and the guests. We ask property owners (or their agency) to provide a copy of standard booking conditions for our records which we send to guests on your behalf at the time any booking is confirmed. We will pay your agreed ‘overheads charge’ for cleaning, laundry, and utilities costs at the time of booking confirmation, and even if our guests have to cancel, you keep the payment by way of a thank you.

What are the benefits to me offering a week in my holiday property to ABOAB?

The feedback we receive from guests about the benefits of a holiday while living with a terminal illness is hugely gratifying. As a property owner, be assured that your generosity in gifting a holiday will be massively appreciated. We pay a fee to cover your cleaning, laundry and utility bills associated with the break to help ease costs. We hope you’ll put A Bit of a Break’s logo on your website and social media, to tell others what you’re doing. We’ll similarly feature you on our platforms and give you a shout-out and thank-you as often as we can.

We keep updating our FAQs so if you have a question we haven’t answered here, please contact us and we’ll add it.

Who can make referrals?

A referral must be made by one of our nominated referral partners. These are health and social care professionals/services based in North and West Yorkshire, Manchester, Liverpool and Hull. We are unable to accept self-referrals.

Who do I contact about becoming a referrer?

If you are not currently one of our referrers and would like to enquire about making a referral, please email Rachel our Operations Co-ordinator or call her on 07516 315602.

Who can be referred to ABOAB?

People referred to us must be receiving palliative care and, in the service, care or support of one of the organisations listed above.

How do I know if my patient is eligible for referral?

We don’t need to know your patient’s prognosis, but they must be receiving palliative care and it would be helpful to have some indication of their situation so that we can prioritise finding them a break.

How do I make the referral?

Referral partners need to fill out a simple Referral form and email it to our Operations Co-Ordinator Rachel.  You can find the Referral Form here on the website. It’s a Word Document that you can download.

The Referral Process in short:

• Email your Referral form to Rachel, our Operations Co-Ordinator, who you can also contact on 07516 315602.
• Rachel will acknowledge receipt of the Referral Form within 1-2 days and aims to contact your patient to introduce herself and talk through their requirements within a further 1-2 days before beginning the property search.

What do you need from Referrers during the referral process?

We aim to strike a balance between ensuring you’re involved as much as you and your patient need, understanding that each patient has different needs. We will keep communication to a minimum so as not to add to your workload but will keep you involved with any developments.

We do ask that you get in touch with us if there are any changes to your patient’s situation that might affect the break or if their care transfers from you to another health or social care professional.

How do you keep us up to date with the referral?

We request your contact details, your patient’s contact details and someone, nominated by the patient, so that we can keep in touch as the matching process progresses.

• We will contact you if we have any concerns or need further information to help source a break.
• We ask the patient to nominate someone we can speak to so that we can progress the property search if the patient is unavailable/unwell.
• We ask that you keep us informed of any significant developments especially if you sense that the patient has become too unwell to take a break.

That said, we are always available by phone or email if you want to discuss a referral at any stage. For any referral queries, email or call Rachel on 07516 315602.

Are breaks available all year round?

Breaks are available all year round, but we know that patients – understandably – prefer to take a break a) in the peak season when the weather and travel is more reliable and b) during school holidays to reduce interruptions for children, and any partners or family members working in education. However, our property owners have greater availability during the off-season and during term time.

We will aim to secure breaks during the school holidays to patients who:
a) are the parent of school-age children
b) have a close relative (partner/spouse, parent or grown-up child) who works in/with schools e.g. teachers and related professions.
Our experience is that schools are generally extremely supportive about taking a child out of school when a parent is receiving palliative care. It isn’t always possible, for example when children are approaching external exams, or when maintaining ‘normality’ is key to their well-being.

We will, at all times, keep talking to your patient to find a break that works for them and their family.

Does my patient have to accept the first break they’re offered?

We work with patients and property owners to find matches that work first time round, where this isn’t possible – whether due to a change in health or other reasons – we will offer two more breaks before suggesting we review the referral.

How soon will a break be available?

We can’t put a timescale on how quickly we can find a break, but we start looking as soon as we’ve received the referral form and spoken to your patient. We’re always adding to our portfolio of property partners increasing the number of properties we have access to with the aim of giving us more choice and flexibility when finding a match for a patient.

What if my patient’s health changes or deteriorates?

We ask that you keep us up to date with any changes in your patients health that might impact on their ability to take a break or the type of property they need. If a patient is too unwell to go on their break, we will try to offer it to another patient and continue to look for another property your patient can take at a later date.