Camden Council celebrates new home for Breakaway service
On Monday 3 March, the Council joined those who use Breakaway, their primary carers and support workers to celebrate the success of the popular short stay service since it moved to a new home in Swiss Cottage.
In December 2019, Breakaway moved to a newly refurbished purpose-built building and since then, service users have benefitted from better facilities and more indoor and outdoor space.
Breakaway offers adults with learning and physical disabilities the chance to spend time away from home to socialise and develop the skills to live as independently as possible, whilst giving their primary carers a necessary break from their caring responsibilities.
The new and more accessible building offers eight bedrooms, instead of the previous six, all on a single level with adapted rooms for those with complex needs, large communal spaces and a garden.
A guided tour by adults who use Breakaway and speeches from carers and Camden’s Cabinet Member for a Healthy and Caring Camden, Councillor Pat Callaghan marked the housewarming.
Breakaway is an incredibly important service as it gives adults with complex needs the opportunity to have time away from home to become more part of their local community, learn new skills and be more independent and make new friends. It’s also a vital service for their primary carers who get a valuable break from their daily roles to either work, keep in touch with friends and family and most importantly, recharge so they can sustain being a full-time carer. The move from Kentish Town was necessary to expand the service to allow more people to use it, as well as improve the facilities and classes on offer.
My son has only been coming to the Breakaway service for a little while, and already he has the confidence to do things like use the phone where he didn’t before. It gives me a chance for a break every week, but the bit of distance is doing him some good too, as he learns more independent living skills.
The service, which is rated highly by the Care Quality Commission, has been running for over thirty years and shares a site with the Alexandra Centre further education college for young adults with learning disabilities.
If you would like to find out more about day services and short breaks in Camden, please head to https://www.camden.gov.uk/day-services-and-short-breaks or email [email protected].