am i the only one to be REFUSED family fund? :-(

[kats3]

I thought (hoped) we would be approved, listed a few things as suggested by everyone i've spoken to about it, on here and in person, thinking id be happy if they only agreed to one thing...

unfortunately, they refused our application we are well below the income (under £15,000 between us actually) receive CTC, WTC, DLA & CA....but 'don't meet the criteria' the letter said.

Am I missing something obvious? or just being silly to think we would be eligible? anyone else in the same boat? or know much about the criteria?

(should point out we never had a visit or call either, just sent in the application, and got the refusal letter a couple of months after)

Thanks in advance

I've never heard of anyone being turned down that met the criteria...

The only way you will know why is to call them.

What is your child's disability? Is it Asthma because that normaly doesn't meet criteria?

Do you have a significant amount of capital?

its epilepsy pearlywhites partly controlled (on 4th different meds) affects mood/behaviour/tiredness/ confidence/ memory/anxiety etc aswell. Get DLA as MRC & LRM

and Lougle ... I wish! the only reason I applied is because we don't have enough savings to get the things ourself, mostly due to having so much unpaid time off work for appointments, early pick ups from school, hospital trips & poorly days.

I think I may have to ring them, but I don't want to sound like I think im entitled to it, if we aren't that's fine, but I just wish they explained why in the letter im kind of in limbo wondering if its right, or the person who looked at the application was in a bad mood, or if I filled something in wrong/badly

I would just politely ask, which criteria weren't met. I can't see any wrong in this.

Do phone them and ask why you don't meet criteria. It may be that partly controlled epilepsy on its own doesn't meet their criteria for 'seriously ill' and although the legal definition of disability does include epilepsy (as it persists for over one year and makes significant changes to daily life), they have tightened up their own criteria for what constitutes disability.

I just found this:

Children are not likely to meet the Fund?s criteria where their main or only difficulty is one of the following:
? They have eczema, asthma or allergies
? They have specific educational difficulties ? such as dyslexia, dyscalculia or poor literacy
? Their condition is stable and managed through medication, diet, monitoring, testing bloods or transfusions and there have been no recent medical crises as a result of their condition

Could that be why?

Lawks, what is family fund, anyone?

Hi Goldenretriever, Family Fund is an organisation who give grants which benefit children with either severe illness or a disability, with an age limit of 17 years.

However, they do not give grants as detailed in my last post and as it is a discretionary fund, they can pick and choose who they award to.

Thank you, just starting to navigate the whole thing.

We were awarded £300 for swimming vouchers and we are over the income threshold. DS has ASD.

Thanks all, sorry I took so long to pop back... School holidays! need I say more?!

Lougle I think you could be right, I did explain in the tiny space on the form the best I could at how it affects him, but think it may be worth me checking/explaining over the phone. A main problem he has is tiredness due to small ongoing absence seizures, and meds side affects, so was hoping to maybe get him a scooter to help him keep up when we are out with friends/family hes had a go a friends, and it really helped him keep up, hes to heavy for the cheep kids ones (another lovely meds side effect) so looking at £40+ for one for his weight/height then theres all the safety gear to add on to that especially due to the risk of him falling off if he has an absence

I know its not a major problem compared to some, so if we aren't eligible I wouldn't complain about it, but its clearly made a huge difference to everything we do since he was diagnosed, whether its supervision or altering plans to fit around his energy levels & mood swings. The amount of time we have had off work due to illness and appointments means we cant afford a holiday this year... I was crossing fingers and toes we might be able to apply for one so the kids don't miss out on a much needed break. (moan over, just feeling sorry for myself today!)

I wrote a covering statement of about one side of A4 with my application.