Holistic Thinking Holidays

A 360 look inside one of Holistic Thinking Holidays fully accessible static caravan holiday homes, with commentary by yours truly. If the video isn't playing in full 360, it's likely you're not viewing it in YouTube itself, so make sure you're watching it on the platform itself. I've just started trying my hand at creating actual 360 videos, seeing as I have the cameras to do it, and one of the points that came up from my recent 360 of Daventry Country Park, was it didnt have my usual voice-over, so I've taken that on board and added commentary to this one. Let me know what you think, does it help you gain a better understanding of the layout and is the commentary giving enough information? https://lnkd.in/eee8WQEM I'm also looking to include some 360 video clips to the accessibility ones I create and it'd be really useful to hear from you all, on what aspects you'd like to see included? #Accessibility #AccessibleHolidays #AccessiblePlaces #DisabilityAwareness

Holistic Thinking Holidays and Tara Mackings BEM from Tailored Leisure are very, very grateful!! HUGE, HUGE thanks to Dave and Tom from Direct Healthcare Group for an amazing piece of work. No wardrobes, cupboards or chests of drawers were harmed in making this work 😃 Our greatest challenge yet has been overcome successfully! Bring on the next one!! #Inclusion #InclusionMatters #InclusiveTourism #InclusiveTravel #AccessibleTravel #AccessibilityMatters

Holiday parks and caravan manufacturers please note: Two of the pictures show hoists, whilst the other two don’t! If you know, you know! En route to Berwick Upon Tweed for a REAL hoist installation day in Tailored Leisure’s caravan tomorrow!! Soon to HTH’s most northerly accessible holiday destination. #Inclusion #InclusionMatters #InclusiveTourism #InclusiveTravel #AccessibleTravel #AccedsibleTourism #Accessibility #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleHolidays

...aaaand breathe! I've just sent the latest issue of Inclusive Design Magazine off to the printers. If you'd like to receive a copy (it's free to subscribe) simply visit https://lnkd.in/eBZGQyY6 and fill in your details. As far as I know we are the only print and digital magazine devoted entirely to accessibility and inclusive design in the built environment, distributed to architects, developers, building designers, care home owners/managers, and occupational therapists!

Big decisions being made today, as CEO Elmer has invited the rest of the board to attend in person / elephant at HTH HQ for final preparations for the 2024 season, including The Caravan Man's Spring 2024 tour schedule. It seems that Rose's travel arrangements were disrupted by Storm Jocelyn, so she had to attend via zoom. Then a quick get together with the rest of the team to discuss brand awareness. So what is the significance of our coloured elephants and CEO Elmer in particular? In an interview published by The Telegraph as part of the 25th anniversary of the Elmer books, author David Mckee was asked “Why did he want to write a story about a colourful elephant trying to fit into a monochrome society? By way of an answer, McKee, told a story. "Once I was out with my wife Violet, and daughter Chantel. There was another family on the other side of the street and the boy referred to my daughter using a word that is certainly considered racist in today's society. My daughter was upset and I couldn't believe it. She is darker skinned because her mother was Anglo-Indian, but my daughter is beautiful – as was my wife." The recognition that Mckee's daughter was different, but certainly no less special than any other child, inspired him to write his series of books about Elmer, that been praised for instilling into young children respect for others' differences and stressing the virtue of being oneself.    So, in summary, Elmer represents embracing difference, which we at Holistic Thinking Holidays, are really passionate about when it comes to people with special needs. So why did we choose Wilbur, Eldo, Rose, David, Nellie, Zelda, Stella, Jubilee and Tailah for our caravan names? Well we already had Elmer the campervan, who you may well have seen in some of our photos, so since Wilbur, Eldo, Rose, Zelda and Stella are Elmer’s friends, we settled for those names, and we have some scope when we expand our range of Adapted Static Holiday homes further, as Elmer has a few more colourful friends within his stories. Hang on a minute what about David, Nellie, Tailah and Jubilee?? David is a tip of the cap to McKee, and of course there's St David for our Welsh friends and guests staying at Towyn in North Wales. Mrs HTH chose Nellie as we started to think longer term beyond the number of Elmer's friends. Tailah is the name of the little girl who owns the caravan at Burgh Castle, and we're renting that one out on her behalf. Jubilee is named after what was thought to be the first Asian elephant born at Chester Zoo, in 1977. So any elephant names, as long they have a story behind them are on the agenda, and it does of course also mean that we still have 2 more of Elmer's friends to go!! So look out for news of Red, Mel, Super El, Barbar, Berilia, Dumbo and Hathi etc. coming soon😊 #accessibilitymatters #acessibility #inclusionmatters #inclusion #accessibletourism #accessibletravel #inclusiveholidays #inclusivetravel #brandawareness #elephant

The man from Direct Healthcare Group says yes!!! It was an absolute pleasure to meet up with Tara Mackings BEM from Tailored Leisure this morning and to catch up with David Patnell from DHG via video link, to discuss how we could make an overhead hoisting system a reality in their lovely caravan on the North East Coast. The result, we're pleased to say, is that the fantastic Mr Patnell has a cunning plan to bring the project to a successful conclusion! If that isn't enough excitement from Northern lands for one day, we hope to be able to bring you something even more fantastic in the next few weeks from beach-side in Berwick Upon Tweed. #AccessibilityMatters #AccessibleTourism #AccessibleTravel #Inclusion #InclusiveTravel #WorkingTogetherToMakeADifference

We are very proud of the way our little business has grown over the last 4 and a bit years, but we're certainly not precious about the knowledge we have gathered along the way, so whenever we're asked about our project, the equipment we use, or pretty much anything else, we are very happy to share, in the hope that the facilities that HTH provide can become even more readily available. With this in mind we always keep an eye out for others looking for a bit of help along the way with their own projects. So when Tara Mackings BEM at Tailored Leisure was on the look out for a hoisting system for their caravan, we were very pleased to offer our services. So..... tomorrow the Caravan Man is hitting the road again for a whistle stop trip to Berwick upon Tweed to take a look at how we can make it work, with a video link to Direct Healthcare Group on Thursday morning. All being well there will be another caravan "up North", with hoisting in place in the not too distant future!!

Have you been thinking about booking your 2024 holidays? If you have, you're certainly not alone! It’s estimated that 40% of bookings for summer holidays are made between Boxing Day and mid-February. There's lots to think about: UK or abroad Coastal, countryside or City breaks Hotel, Cottage, Bed and Breakfast or Holiday Park. Catered or self catering By car, sea, train or air Price Families needing something special when it comes to accessibility for family members who have complex health or mobility challenges, find the process of booking a holiday even more challenging with lots more to consider: Does the basic accommodation meet our accessibility needs? Is all the equipment I need provided? If not can it be hired in, with or without additional costs and if not do we need to take 2 vehicles to carry all the equipment we need? Is the surrounding area accessible? Do the available facilities cater for the whole family group? Is the price affordable? Can we find affordable insurance? What is the cancellation policy if we have last minute medical issues? It is for families like these that the idea of Holistic Thinking Holidays was hatched. We believe that EVERYONE deserves a stress free and affordable family holiday experience and, whilst we recognise that on our own we can't possibly meet the needs of everyone, along with a few and growing like minded holiday providers, we are determined to make it possible. If you're interested in helping us to make accessible beach holidays even more readily available, please get in touch. Image Description An image of joy and contentment in the sunshine on the glorious soft sandy beach at Caister-on Sea in Norfolk. A proud mum enjoys a paddle in the sea with her daughter who is seated in a bright yellow beach wheelchair with balloon wheels.

A couple of bits of exciting news to announce. Firstly, we heard earlier this week that HTH have reached round 2 of the 2023-24 East of England Tourism awards "Accessible and Inclusive Tourism" category that forms part of the Visit England's Award's of excellence program. We met with 2 of the judges, Richard Hunt from Suffolk Growth Partnership and Clarissa Place, Editor at Ipswich Star, at Caister on Sea yesterday, for them to take a look around Wilbur and the Haven site facilities and give us the opportunity to showcase our work, before the shortlist of finalists is announced in the next couple of weeks! The finalists event will take place on Thursday 15 February 2024 at Snape Maltings, Suffolk, We'll keep you posted!! Secondly, we were contacted recently by Inclusive Design Magazine, and asked to provide details for a regular feature that they will be running, starting with the next edition, which is released early in 2024. Details have now been submitted for editing, so keep an eye out for "A week in the life of The Caravan Man" coming soon! 😀