The Minister of State for Care at the Department of Health and Social Care, Gillian Keegan MP, and Damien Moore, MP for Southport met with Janine Tregelles CBE, CEO of Revitalise, and Mark Davis, General Manager, at the charity’s Southport centre, Sandpipers.
As well as meeting some of the centre’s guests, Gillian Keegan MP and Damien Moore MP were given a tour of the facilities and heard about the charity’s ambitious plans for the centre.
Revitalise will be expanding the site by adding a new wing, which will increase their capacity to support disabled people and their families, whilst also ensuring the facilities represent modern and innovative thinking in accessible design and support.
The charity will shortly embark on a major fundraising appeal to fund the redevelopment works, which will also happen across their other two centres in Chigwell and Southampton.
Southport MP Damien Moore said: “It was fantastic to visit Revitalise this morning with Minister of State for Care, Gillian Keegan MP.
“I am really proud that Southport is home to the UK’s premier holiday destination for respite holidays for disabled people and their carers.
“From accessible bedrooms to hydrotherapy pools, it is really encouraging to see the care and diligence that Revitalise’s wonderful, hardworking team put in to ensuring that their guests are well supported on their break.
“It was also very kind of guests to give their time to a Q&A session with the Care Minister.
“I know it was useful for both of us to hear the important points they raised across continuing healthcare, personal payments, and reassessments.
“Revitalise has exciting plans for the future, and I am very pleased that they continue to rightly see their Southport site as the best place to bring those plans to fruition.”
Revitalise is an important lifeline in the disability and care sector. Living with a disability can be relentless and tiring. Accessibility, affordability, and stigma are major barriers for disabled people trying to find much needed breaks. Carers also need quality time to unwind and reset with many close to physical and mental breaking points. Revitalise centres give disabled people and their carers the fun and stress free breaks they want, with the support and care they need.
Revitalise is the UK’s largest specialist provider of respite holidays for disabled people and their carers with 24-hour care. The charity caters for over 150 conditions including Alzheimers, MS, Paraplegia, Motor Neurone Disease, and Cerebral Palsy from their three specialist centres in Essex, Southampton and Southport, providing 4,500 holidays each year for people who might otherwise have no opportunity to take a break.
Janine Tregelles CBE, CEO of Revitalise said:
‘We were delighted that the Minister of State for Care, Gillian Keegan MP and local MP, Damien Moore visited our Southport centre and guests this morning. We discussed our transformation plans and highlighted the necessity of respite breaks for disabled people and carers, and the vital part that centres such as Revitalise play.
“Sadly, thousands of disabled people and carers are going without essential respite, leaving some families at breaking point due to the pressures of caring. Central government has rightly given local authorities extra funding for Social Care, however the money provided is a fragment of the overall amount needed. To achieve better care for all, it is vital that Social Care is seen as an equal to that of the NHS and has the proper funding it so desperately needs.”
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