Some Family Fund Questions please!

[mymatemax]

I didn't want to hijak Jenks thread but I wonder if you wise people could tell me a little about the family fund please.

Who are they?
Can anyone apply?
How do I contact them/apply?
Is it a long process with loads of red tape?

We too need the garden re fencing, dh currently has it propped up & patched but it isn't going to last the winter...You've got me thinking perhaps we could apply.

DS2 gets DLA high rate mobility mid rate care.

Anyone with a severely disabled child can apply. You need to have family income of less than £24k to have a chance of being successful.

A falling down fence is something they could help with I'm sure.

There is a 2-3 months wait currently I beleive, from the time of application to when you hear from them with a decision. But they pay it straight into your account now so it's quicker than a cheque.

Thanks Shiny,
How do they decide if a child is severely disabled, what sort assessment do they use?

Sorry for all the questions.

The FF fund site is here.

We got it for ds1 when he was on miidle rate care DLA. You just show them reports or letters which state that your child is disabled, and also copies of bank statements, pay slips etc to prove your income.

When we applied we just sent in a very simple form. They wrote to say they would visit. The FF visitor looked at the paperwork and talked to us about what we'd like.

If you look at the Downloads section there's a pdf copy of the application form.

All the application forms etc can be found here

The website isn't the best I have seen, but the forms are straight forward enough.

Not sure on how they decide what consistutes 'severely disabled', but there is a 'childs monitoring form' will you fill in your childs diagnosis/condition and how it affects them etc.

When we first applied to family fund the woman who came to visit us was eager to get as many new applications as possible and gave my wife lots of leaflets to hand out at her 'step by step' SN group and to other people in similar positions as ourselfs.

Our son is 4.5 and severely autistic.

Best of luck.

Mr Graciefer

Oops, sorry for the cross post, I was looking at the FF site and didn't see the prvious post.

we have used the family fund for a few years now, DH got driving lessons from them.
we have only had one vist and the lady was lovely, she told us, shopping must be difficult for you with kids with autism so i will apply for a freezer for you, also had over the years bedding, clothing and holidays, i did apply in jume but still not heard from them

Yes sorry, I forgot, in my post, that when you apply for the first time, you have to have a visit. I think they must assess then how "severely disabled" your child is; that and the level of DLA you get.

Thank you all for your replies, I've had a look at the website , I think ds2 will qualify, but our joint income takes us over by £128 .

So I don't think we qualify - unless we move to Wales, not sure why their income limit is set higher, I wasn't aware of an exchange rate or a much higher cost of living than the rest of the UK

Claim anyway MyMate, I have it on good authority that they can use discretion and that is a v.small amount to be over.

Raising an SN child cost six times more than an non SN one on average don't forget!

I'll have a go, 6 times more I never realised & we have both changed jobs & earn less than we did 5 yrs ago because we needed to be able to give ds2 a more consistent routine.
I'll apply anyway, Thanks

well the FF lady has been and she,s applied for driving lessons for me, money for a holiday, a SN trike for DD and some bedding for DS.
she said "if you are successful you will receive notification within 4 weeks"

another question, do they take your WFTC as part of your income?