Short break activities and overnight breaks | Westmorland and Furness Council

About short breaks

Targeted short break activities - available to book now

Short breaks give children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), a chance to enjoy new activities, have fun and make new friends. They also give parents and carers a break from their caring responsibilities.

A short break can take place:

after school
at the weekend
during school holidays
overnight

A short break can also be an activity for a few hours, for example, at a leisure centre. Some short break activities are free whilst others charge.

Short breaks

Short breaks provide:

childcare (regular and ongoing)
holidays (in and out of the United Kingdom)
support for siblings
emotional support
extra tuition
support for parental ill health

There are 3 types of short breaks:

short breaks for everyone (universal short breaks)
targeted short breaks
specialist and overnight short breaks

Short breaks statement [PDF, 200KB]

Position statement

Targeted short breaks is a service that is intended to offer activities for children and young people with SEND.

We are committed to improving our services for children. This is to ensure our services fit the needs of as many children and young people, and their families, as possible. Targeted short breaks provide activities for young people’s wellbeing, as well as providing an important short break for families and carers.

We are revisiting our current offer. We need your feedback and input and will be working with you to coproduce a new and improved offer in readiness for 1 February 2026.