Does anyone know if there is any help to buy a cooker?

[lovedne]

Hi,
I am a regular user, but have changed my username as I am ashamed to be writing this. Does anyone know of any schemes/charities that may be able to help buy a cooker? I began receiving universal credit 2 months ago due to leaving my husband and I have 2DC one of which is severely disabled. I have just finished university and qualified in a great profession but due to leaving my Husband and now having to be the only carer for (in particular) my disabled DC I can't work at the moment. I am not able to get a budgeting loan from UC as I haven't claimed it for 6 months. I received a grant from the family fund 6 months ago before my situation changed. The charities I have looked at require a letter from someone such as a social worker which my DC doesn't have or an occupational therapist- but my DC has been discharged. I honestly thought when I qualified I would get an amazing job and things would be so much better. I never imagined I would be in this situation. Things are so tight at the moment and I have never felt so low. Please don't suggest saving up (as I need a cooker now and it would take such a long time to save) or getting one on finance (my credit history is now poor due to my husband leaving and being unable to pay the bills). Thanks

Im guessing that iit is something like oven chips and nuggets that your DC will eat?

One of my DC wine through a looooong phase of nuggets only. And putting the oven on every night was ££££. We have one of these for that purpose.

www.argos.co.uk/product/7452194?clickSR=slp:term:air%20fryer:3:221:1

Cheaper to run than the oven, switches off when it’s done. And easier to clean.

There are loads of Facebook groups where people give things away for free.

Join some and explain your problem to the admin. They'll put you at the top of the list if a cooker gets offered.

Failing that, just post in your local FB group and ask if anyone is getting rid of one.

https://reuse-network.org.uk

https://endfurniturepoverty.org

Thanks everyone.
There's none for free on my local Facebook. When I see one advertised by the time I have messaged they seem to have gone. Prices seem to be around £50 which seems fairly reasonable but then I also have to pay to get it delivered and fitted (only electric but even so, I wouldn't know how to do it!) So probably still looking £100 plus which I simply don't have at the moment.
I think an air fryer is a really great idea and something I hadn't even considered! So going to see if I can get one over the next couple of days.

I love our air fryer. 🙂

Ask on Facebook groups sometimes people give them away free. Maybe an air fryer would be a cheap alternative. You can use them the same as you would use an oven

Yeh I would go with the air fryer for now, I’m even considering one! Also you can cook chips in microwave and pizza.

FB have groups like Random Acts if Kindness and you can request things too. On our local one requests and replies can be anonymous too.

@TurnUpTurnip

Yeh I would go with the air fryer for now, I’m even considering one! Also you can cook chips in microwave and pizza.

Yes, we started to get adventurous once we realised you can do all sorts in them. Pizza, heating up pies, garlic mushrooms (instead of frying them) oven roasties and yorkshires…..

Dd actually ate some halloumi she cooked in it. Which I wouldn’t have believed possible. She had such a Limited diet for so long.

Have a look on marketplace or gumtree a lot of people give them away

I don't know if it still exists, but I have a disabled son too (he's now 30)
But when he was little there was a fund I used a couple of times called the Joseph Rowntree foundation. They gave me a washing machine when I needed help.
Give them a try. Hope this helps

Argos do a free standing one for as low as £170

£170 is crazy money for someone in OPs position

There's none for free on my local Facebook. When I see one advertised by the time I have messaged they seem to have gone.

This is why you need to contact the admin. They'll often give first dibs to those in most need, before they approve the posts.

And as for not knowing how to 'fit' an electric cooker, there are tonnes of tutorials on the internet.

Although they're mostly just plug in and go.

Have a look on freecycle sites - there are often cookers on our local one.

Family Fund, as pp said ^^

www.gov.uk/help-for-disabled-child

Contact the local authority, explain you have a severely disabled child and request an assessment. A disabled child is automatically a ‘child in need’ according to the children act 1989.

You need to also apply for carer's allowance

I don’t have anything to add regarding the cooker but I just wanted to say please, please stop being so ashamed and thinking you need to hide this and not ask for help.

First of all any kind of carer or disability benefits are very hard to get these days and only given to those who really need it - so if there is something you can claim then claim it - it means you need it. Look on www.entitledto.co.uk and check you are claiming whatever you can.

Second you have had two difficult cards dealt to you, a disabled child and a marriage breakdown, please don’t feel embarrassed that you need some help. It sounds like you’ve done amazingly well on your degree and I’m sure the rewards will come, you just need some temporary help. Loads of people need that from time to time.

When you say your DC has been discharged- who by? Are there no services at all involved with you and your DC and providing help ? If he is severely disabled that doesn’t seem right. Have you been in touch with the charity Contact - not for stuff but for advice. Worth trying them if not.

Post on your local fb group, not marketplace. I assume they all work the same, you can message admin and they post for you anon. Ask if anyone can point you in the direction of a local charity who could help, you might even find someone who's getting rid of one but hadn't advertised it yet. I normally find the local groups to be very helpful.

If your children's school has a family liaison officer, try them.

@MrsHookey

The buttle trust buttleuk.org/apply-for-a-grant/ I know you need a professional referral. Contact them and ask who can do this. It could be that a school employee or whoever can do this. The council is theoretically meant to be carrying out carers assessments fir you. The council disability social worker should br able to help you out. Your GP might be a good person to signpost to. I get your point that you need a cooker. A person with autism can have very firm views on how their food is cooked, for instance, and refuse to eat otherwise.

This is who helped us! I couldn't remember the name.

Other than an entire cooker, look on olio/freecycle (and post an add asking on there) for an electric fry pan and/or an electric hob.

@MrsHookey

The buttle trust buttleuk.org/apply-for-a-grant/ I know you need a professional referral. Contact them and ask who can do this. It could be that a school employee or whoever can do this. The council is theoretically meant to be carrying out carers assessments fir you. The council disability social worker should br able to help you out. Your GP might be a good person to signpost to. I get your point that you need a cooker. A person with autism can have very firm views on how their food is cooked, for instance, and refuse to eat otherwise.

This is the charity that helped us! I couldn't remember the name.