Carefree Breaks
Devon Carers at Westbank has partnered with Carefree to be able to offer carers the chance to book a free break at hotels across the country.
Who are Carefree?
Carefree is a multi-award-winning digital charity set up in 2017. Its mission is to offer every full-time unpaid carer in the UK the chance of an annual short break by partnering with the hospitality industry to donate its excess capacity, estimated at 1 million vacant hotel rooms per week.
How does it work?
• You can take one break per calendar year of 1-2 nights in length.
• The break is for you (the carer) only, you can take a companion with you but this can’t be the person you care for.
• You need to pay an admin fee of £33 for each break you go on and you will also need to cover any additional expenses such as food and travel.
• All bookings must be made at least 7 days in advance of taking the break. This gives both Carefree and the Hotel Partner, time to confirm or reject a booking.
• Once you’ve been referred, you will receive an automated welcome email with login details, and instructions on how to browse and book a break on the Carefree booking hub.
• After you’ve made a request for a break you should get the confirmation / decline email from Carefreewithin five days.
• If the days requested have been declined, the £33 admin fee will be credited to your account to use on another booking.
Who is eligible?
To be eligible you need to be:
• Aged 18 or over
• A full time unpaid carer (available to care 30+ hours per week)
• Able to arrange interim care if required
• Able to pay for extras (admin fee £33, transport, food, travel insurance, etc)
How can I use this service?
We will be launching Carefree Breaks at the end of January – we will announce on our social media and website when the scheme is live.
For more information about Carefree, you can visit their website here: https://carefreespace.org/