Respite care is about providing care for children with disabilities away from their families or normal carers. Respite carers care for the children for short periods of time, perhaps for a night or weekend. The child benefits from new experiences and new relationships and their family benefit from the break - they are able to have time to themselves or to spend with their other children.
Respite Carers are all individual people with differing circumstances, abilities and backgrounds.
They can:
You do not need to have experience of looking after disabled children. You just need to have the time, energy and desire to do so.
For further information on respite care, also known as Shared Care, visit the Shared Care Network website.