Several of us in Redbourn have been Volunteer Helpers on many home and continental trips over the years for people of any age whose disabilities mean that travel by the usual means is not an option open to them. We call them our "VIPs."

We belong to a local charity called Harpenden Phoenix Holidays. The organisation was founded in the early 1980s and was then called Harpenden & St. Albans Across Trust, and the special vehicles then used were known as jumbulances. More recently the group name was changed to H P H and it became a registered charity. It exists to make travel possible for the very disabled in a safe, friendly, and protected environment.

The volunteer helpers are responsible for their own funding, as are the VI Ps, but the necessarily high costs are heavily subsidised by HPH so that they remain affordable. The HPH are very good hardworking fundraisers, and receive strong support from the local A L postcode population.

Each VIP is assigned an able-bodied Volunteer Helper day and night throughout the holiday. Any necessary medical and practical assistance the VI Ps might need is on the specially adapted vehicle, a large coach/ambulance, which remains with them during the trip, and is used for excursions on the holiday. It is fitted with fully reclining seats, a kitchen, and large loo, and also has two tiers of beds down one side of the aisle. Access is by a large lift.

The report below on our recent trip to Holland was written by a couple of helpers for whom this was their first trip. Later this year we are off again, this time to Germany, not far from Potsdam and Berlin. As always, the hotel is specially adapted for disabled people. This next one is superbly apointed for all levels of disability, and is situated next to a beautiful lake.

If anyone from Redbourn, or the AL postcode area generally, reads this report and would like to know more, either from a potential VIP or a volunteer helper standpoint, please contact Peter Fox on 793303, or the HPH directly. on 764179. Email:john.favell@tiscali.co.uk

Holland – May 2008

NO TULIPS, BUT A LOT OF FUN

Lyn and Martin Banks

We are new volunteers to Phoenix Holidays, though we have had some previous experience as carers for VI Ps on similar trips. We first got involved last year and had a collective `testing of the water’ with the group last October, on a day trip to the London Eye and the nearby London Aquarium. The trip to the Einlanden Hotel in de Ryjp in Holland was where we jumped in for real, however.

It was a very worthwhile experience as well, even though we missed seeing any tulips. It was obvious from the start that the Phoenix team has a wealth of experience at running holidays like this. The organisation and planning was all a new volunteer could hope for, with everyone’s safety a top priority. And for us newby volunteers, that also translated into the knowledge that we weren’t `on our own’ looking after our VI Ps; team work is a core part of the plan. The established members were very good at guiding, reassuring and absorbing newcomers into the group, be they volunteers or VI Ps. We soon slotted into the strong team spirit, where everyone looked out for whatever needed to be done to make it a good and safe trip for the VI Ps (and indirectly us new volunteers as well).

But on top of the organisation and teamwork – the team know how to have a good time, and we did. We have both been to far less exciting parties – and this one went on for a week!

Part of that organisation showed in our meeting up with the team in advance so we could be paired up with VI Ps. This enabled us to gain awareness of their specific needs and prepare ourselves accordingly. It also showed the Phoenix team had put a good deal of thought into who we should be paired with.

Then came the day of departure and the arrival of the Jumbulance. This in itself is quite an experience, being a comfortable coach that is also fully equipped to operate as an ambulance if needed (including the blue lights and sirens). The journey went very smoothly, with several of the VI Ps travelling on the beds it contains. There was even a chance for volunteers to use the spare beds when not on kitchen duty (yes, the Jumbulance has a kitchen as well).

The Einlanden Hotel was an excellent choice. It has been specifically architected for visitors that need assistance, so every door easily accommodates a wheelchair, and the bathroom in every bedroom is a well-equipped `wet room’. There was also a good supply of the additional equipment that VI Ps might require. The beds are comfortable, the food both good and plentiful, and the lobby and bar area both big and comfortable – just what was needed at the end of a busy day.

Its facilities make it a popular target for other similar groups, which it absorbs without any sense of overloading. We shared the hotel with groups from Belgium and Germany and it was great to see the VI Ps and volunteers mingle, culminating in a great evening’s entertainment where we ended up dancing together and singing the same song, at the same time, in three different languages.

We made many new friends – both volunteers and VI Ps – and ended up feeling as one should after a good time away – happy, tired, refreshed in spirit, tired, with a sense of achievement and, yes, tired. One thing is certain, we will be seeing those new friends again, certainly at the reunion in November, and on other trips in the future.

See Also; - Redbourn Care Group, Care Group Newsletter, Grove House