Help for families who need us the most
At the Family Fund, we know that almost all families with disabled children and young people face some form of financial difficulty. Families struggle with the extra costs of raising disabled children, which can be at least three times higher than for other children. We know that there are so many families that need our help and we have always tried to make sure that our fixed funding is spent fairly and wisely on, supporting families on the lowest of incomes.
In these difficult economic times, more and more families are coming to us for help, to meet the cost of the most basic of needs. Many of these families are raising more than one disabled child or have larger families. Their need is great, but their household income is outside of the Fund?s income limit.
Because of this, the Fund has worked closer with families, and third party organisations, to ensure our grants are accessible to families that need us the most. To make sure we are helping families who are on the lowest of incomes and in greatest need, the Fund will be making a change to its income criteria and will now be guided by a family?s entitlement to government financial support in the form of benefit and tax credits.
This means that we will now consider a grant application from any family caring for a disabled child or young person aged 17 and under in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, where they are eligible for, and can send us evidence of entitlement to, one the following: Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income based Job Seekers Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit. Families must still however meet all our other eligibility criteria in order to be eligible.
Derek Walpole, Chief Executive of the Family Fund, explains:
?In these tough times, families are telling us that they are losing vital support, and we want to be sure our help goes to those who need us the most. The reality is that, we don?t have unlimited funding and we can?t help every family. A grant from the Fund is, and has always been discretionary. As always, we have listened and learned from families, and we are prioritising our help for families who are on the lowest of incomes, and have the greatest need.?