United Kingdom
Chrysalis Holidays, after 35 years in the business, is still pushing boundaries, raising standards and providing an exciting service, bettered by no one in the industry.
Back in 1991, with just a dozen holidays on the calendar, the fledgling Chrysalis was treading uncharted ground. With help from Mencap, and administered by The Epiphany Trust, it was providing many people, institutionalised by years in old Victorian asylums, their first ever holiday. It was providing parents with a brand new form of respite. It was blazing a trail. Jump forward to the present day and the desire to evolve and invent remains unchanged. Many of the processes are unrecognisable from those early days. The group of willing volunteers have been replaced by an experienced & highly trained staff team and an in-house policy book has been replaced by CQC regulation & scrutiny.
Chrysalis enjoys incredible loyalty from its customers. Many brand new customers in the 1990’s are still holidaying 1, 2, 3 times a year to this day. But this does not mean Chrysalis is sitting back and becoming routine. Instead, new destinations, holidays themes and activities are routinely discussed.
From the start Chrysalis has championed the belief that people with learning disabilities have the same right as anyone else to enjoy exciting, fresh, amazing leisure experiences, and has strived to dismantle the all-too-prevalent barriers fostered by a lack of effort or a lack of imagination. Thankfully, this project of ours bucks the trend…and has both in abundance.
Chrysalis has over 70 holidays in its programme this year, providing nearly 500 holiday places.
Chrysalis Holidays provides supported residential holidays across the UK and into Europe for adults with learning disabilities.
