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By supporting people with learning disabilities and people on the autistic spectrum to go out into the community and take part in leisure and social activities, we give family carers a short flexible break from caring.


Out and About is a scheme which gives people with learning disabilities a chance to go and take part in social and leisure activities in the community. Out and About runs small group activities and occasionally individual outings, on a one- to- one basis with a volunteer. We have 5 part-time staff and about 20 volunteers who help us out. We have up to 70 families on the scheme at one time and we provide over 4500 hours respite a year.

We aim to give carers a break every month for at least 4 hours. Although we are quite full at the moment, we do have some spaces. We are currently taking referrals from single carers, older carers, and carers with health needs of their own. We assess each case individually and the person with a learning disability must be 19 or over.

We aim to keep the groups small and do activities such as the cinema, meals out, bowling the theatre - the list is endless! We will book and subsidise taxis for people to get to and from the planned activity.

We also do a yearly trip to the seaside.

Out and About gives people chance to make new friends, build on their confidence and independence and gives them a social life.