Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get a grant for those with neurological or neuromuscular illnesses leading to severe Physical disability?
It takes a minimum of 3 months from the date of application when everything required has been submitted, for a decision on an application to be made. Applications received with less than THREE months from application to a proposed trip will be automatically declined.
What do you mean by severe physical disability?
CS Disabled Holidays defines severe physical disability as either being a full-time, non-ambulatory wheelchair user, or requiring mechanical ventilation for more than 16 hours per day (or an equivalent level of support). We do not consider the use of CPAP machines for the treatment of sleep apnea to meet the definition of ventilation.
If I meet the criteria will I automatically receive a grant?
Not every applicant who meet the criteria that we list will be successful in receiving financial aid. We only have a certain size pot of money available and receive many more applications – so we have a Panel who review all applications and have the difficult task of deciding who will be successful. This panel the “Applications Panel” are appointed on an annual basis. They spend a lot of time deciding who will receive a grant but do so at their discretion and do not provide reasons. There is no appeal from their decision. If you are not successful, you are welcome to apply again in 1 year.
What happens if I want to apply but I don't have all necessary the information?
Applications are only accepted when all required items are provided. If a part application is received you will be given a limited time in which to provide the missing items (and it is very limited) and then your application will be automatically declined. This means that you will be blocked from applying for a year and a day from that date.
CS Disabled Holidays strongly recommends that applications are only made when you have completed:
- Evidence of the proposed holiday and costs
- Independent Evidence of illness and level of physical Disability which from the 15 June must be submitted on the CS Disabled Holidays Form.
- Have got the answers ready for the two questions:
- Explain how a CS Disabled Holidays grant will benefit you and/or your carer?
- You are applying for a grant, please explain why you think you should qualify for financial assistance for a holiday/respite break. This question is about why you should qualify financially.
Once you have all of the above you will be ready to log in on line and complete the application form.
Please read carefully our terms and conditions.
If you are not able to attach the form to your application please send PDF or Jpeg copies to info@CSDisabledholidays.co.uk. We do not accept other formats.
It says we can apply for up to £2000 for a grant, is that really correct?
CS Disabled Holidays rules allow for the trustees to award grants of up to £2000 to an individual applicant. However due to the demand the Trustees do not expect to award any grants of more than £1000 to any applicant during 2025 or indeed in the foreseeable future.
So if I meet the criteria I can apply for a holiday for my whole family?
CS Disabled Holidays understands that having a severely physically disabled member of the family can have serious financial implications for the whole family. However our funds are limited and the number of applications are great, so we are only ever able to consider funding for any break the applicant and one carer. We are always thrilled to hear that other family members are going on the break, but they must be funded separately.
You say it takes 3 months to apply for a grant, what if my holiday is sooner than that?
CS Disabled Holidays will only make an exception where it is an end of life situation. Such applications are usually done through our links with other charities, not directly and are extremely rare. Our rules are very clear, we do not accept applications which can not be approved prior to the holiday.
Are Applications assessed anonymously when the Trustees are considering making Awards?
Yes, all applications are assessed anonymously by our Applications Panel.
During 2025 applications will be referred to the Applications Panel which is made up of Trustees as detailed below:
- 16/12/2024 – 15/03/2025 → Reviewed in early April, results by late April – has now passed, full allocation of budget was awarded.
- 16/03/2025 – 15/06/2025 → Reviewed in early July, results by late July
- 16/07/2025 – 15/09/2025 → Reviewed in early October, results by late October
- 16/09/2025 – 15/12/2025 → Reviewed in early January 2026, results by late January 20
The Applications Panel receive a report which includes most of the information that you provide but does not include your name or any other identifying information.
The two questions that you answer, on why the holiday/break will benefit you and why you should financially qualify for the grant may be re-written to anonymise your answer if that is necessary.
No information on age, race, sex or religion is provided.
I don't like using computers and email, can I have a paper form, like you used to do?
The charity has had to look at where it expends money, to try to ensure that its funds are available for Grants and Services rather than being spent on administration. One of the ways that it is doing this is by only accepting online applications. Paper Applications are no longer accepted.
You ask for very specific details about my holiday, but I don't want to book anything until I know if I am going to get a grant?
We strongly recommend that you do not book anything until you know if you are going to get a grant. However, our grants are for specific holidays on specific dates for a known price. We do require that you provide evidence of this as part of your application. This might be screen shots, or a picture from a holiday brochure, or a pro forma invoice from a holiday company. Most of the well known holiday companies that you are likely to be booking through will be happy to hold a holiday if you are booking sufficiently in advance while a grant application goes through.
Once you get your grant we will provide some flexibility on dates (up to 3 months) but we are not able to be flexible on length of holiday or destination.
It can be quite hard to get a GP to sign a form, sometimes they charge money to do this – do I really have to do this?
We have a duty to ensure that we have done our due diligence on all applicants who are applying for funding – as a charity we are dealing with "Other Peoples Money" and must show that we ensure our funds are given to legitimate applicants. One of the ways that we do this is through our Independent Evidence of Illness and Level of Disability Form. From the 15th June 2025 this will be the only acceptable evidence – we will no long accept evidence from consultants or GPs
We have tried to give a good range of individuals who can sign your form, but you do have to have either an independent medically qualified individual who is involved in your care or a registered social worker. These groups are all registered individuals. We have intentionally included individuals like physiotherapists or Occupational Therapists who will be able to confirm your diagnosis's and your level of physical disability Your Carer, or Care Manager or support worker can-not sign your Form. A Registered Social Worker involved in your care can sign your form, they like the medically qualified individuals will have to provide their registration details. We do not accept Pharmacists who will know your medications but not your level of physical disability.
I am applying on the educational basis, what do I need to provide to prove that I meet that requirement?
You will need to explain how this trip will benefit you educationally – and why it is important to you? A Few Examples – CS Disabled Holidays have given grants to an individual studying film studies to go on a placement to Disney Studies for his dissertation, for an A' level student to go on a photography tour of Glasgow and a history of Art Student to have a tour of Paris. The Trust also sent a group of Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award students for their adventure exercise to space camp at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
How often can I apply for a grant?
You can apply for any of the services provided by CS Disabled Holidays a year and a day after the last day of the holiday for which you were last awarded a grant (whether or not you accepted that grant). An example would be your application on the 9 March 2024 for a grant towards a holiday from 1 -15 December 2024 and you were notified that you had been successful on the 3 April 2024. You would be able to apply for your next grant on the 16 December 2025. If your application is declined, you can apply for the same service or a different service a year and a day after you were notified that your application had been declined. In this example that would be the 10 March 2025.
You are not allowed to apply for a grant more than 12 months before the holiday
Can any individual left severely physically disabled through neurological or neuromuscular illness/condition apply?
We have added a financial question – we expect only those individuals who have not had a holiday or a respite break in the last 12 months to apply – if the applicant can have a break without our assistance than we expect them to do so – our expectation is to provide assistance to those, who are not able to have a break without the aid or assistance of CS Disabled Holidays. We also expect individuals to investigate whether respite breaks or the cost of care is provided for in their care plans can be transferred to the cost of care during holidays – and if it can be is should be.
What happens once my application has been accepted?
Applications which meet both the criteria of a neurological or neuromuscular illness which has caused severe physical disability will be put before the application panel for consideration on the dates as detailed in FAQ no. 7. A zoom call will also be arranged with the Charity Administrator at a mutually convenient time. This is an opportunity for the Administrator to meet the applicant and for the applicant to ask any questions that they have. The Zoom call is intended to last for about 10 minutes.
How do I know if I have been successful or not?
CS Disabled Holidays are very aware of how much time and effort goes into making grant applications and how much hope is pinned onto being awarded a grant. We also understand how disappointing it is if you are not successful. We write to every applicant to tell them if they have been successful or not.
You ask about my sex, my ethnicity and my gender? Is this relevant?
This is a new question in 2023/2024, we are trying to ensure that we are fully representative. This information is not provided to anyone but will be used at the end of the year, to ensure that we have no hidden biases along with our complete anonymisation of the application process. These are non-mandatory information boxes that people may or may not choose to complete. The Trust is working to ensure it correctly represents all of society in all aspects of its work with no biases.