Cabin at Hoe Grange Holidays
“Applying for the Autism Friendly Award was a natural way to continue improving our services and offer a holiday to remember for even more guests.”
The workbook is extremely helpful. It is split into three sections: accessible customer service, accessible environment and accessible information, and outlines the requirements, giving examples and tasks to complete. You can also easily upload evidence to support your application.
As a result of the application process, we reviewed and improved our pre-visit information and updated our accessibility guides. There are 3D virtual tours and photo galleries of each cabin on the website. We also created a sensory story to introduce the sights, sounds and smells of a holiday on our farm. We know providing potential guests with the right information can make all the difference to them choosing your accommodation.
We also put up new clearer signage on our log cabins and created an autism-friendly holiday pack with mindfulness colouring books, puzzles, mini stimulation packs and holiday communication cards.
We offer pre-booking visits so autistic people can prepare for their holiday and do a ‘test run’ to reduce anxiety - we allocate plenty of time so the visit isn't rushed and people have time to process everything. As we live on site, we can offer help if needed throughout the holiday. We have learnt that small changes can make a massive difference to autistic guests and just a little understanding can go a long way. For example, blackout curtains in the bedrooms allow people to relax in a calm, quiet space.
David and Felicity Brown
“We offer pre-booking visits so autistic people can prepare for their holiday and do a ‘test run’ to reduce anxiety - we allocate plenty of time so the visit isn't rushed and people have time to process everything."