Liphook residential holiday scheme for disabled children celebrates sixth year

Highfield Highreach Holidays, a week-long respite break which was first held in 2018, has gone from strength to strength with 23 children attending this year’s holiday.

The break is hosted at Highfield and Brookham School in Liphook and is focused on supporting families from the local area.

Highfield and Brookham headteacher Suzannah Cryer said: “Challenging perceptions is the ongoing vision that underpins Highreach, from the abilities of the children on the respite scheme to the young volunteers that make it all possible.

Too often in society people are defined and restricted by their abilities and disabilities; preconceptions about what they should and shouldn’t do.

This week proves that nothing can hold these amazing young people back.”

The break, which is rated Outstanding by Ofsted, is ‘one of the very few affordable residential respite holidays’ in the area. Year-on-year half of the cost of the residential holiday is covered by fundraising from the Highfield and Brookham school community to accommodate families who cannot afford the high price of many commercial respite care schemes.

Asking for volunteers is another crucial way of keeping running costs down and, this year, there were 58 volunteers who made the respite holiday possible.

For more information about volunteering, fundraising or attending Highreach, visit: https://highfieldandbrookham.co.uk/school-plus/highreach-holidays/.

A spokesperson for Highreach said: “The volunteers, 41 of whom were returning volunteers, found the experience rewarding and a genuinely lifechanging opportunity.

"This year 30 of the volunteers were former pupils of Highfield and Brookham. They have had the privilege of an independent education and it is their way of giving back.

"Highreach only runs for one week once a year, but this short amount of time has a huge impact on the children attending.

“Children have access to a multitude of amenities, everything from an indoor swimming pool and performance theatre to outdoor woodlands and a full-sized competition Astro. So, for holiday makers who have sensory needs, there is plentiful staff who can supervise them during quieter times so they can still gain the most out of the week.”