Family Fund grant

[Mama777]

What is the family income limit to qualify for Family Fund holiday grant?
Thank you

[JustKeepBuilding]

There’s no one set income limit, it depends on individual applications.

[Mama777]

Thanks 😊 I read on old thread from 2012 that threshold is £40000 to be eligible for FF grant. I guess it went up since. However, no set limit but looking into each family circumstances seems like it could work for us. Thank you for taking time answering my question.

[Username1123]

Hey I was wondering, if you decided to apply for the family fund grant for a holiday, if so we're you successful and how long about did it take for a decision?

[Mama777]

Hi,

Yes, I have applied. You have nothing to loose right…the worst they are going to say is no. It has been 10 weeks yesterday since I have applied, but I haven’t heard anything as yet. I will let you know once they let me know their decision. I copied and pasted it from Family Fund website 👇🏻

How long before I receive my grant?

We work hard to process applications as quickly as possible. Most families receive a grant decision within 10 weeks of applying. However some applications will be much quicker, and some will take longer.
The length of time it takes for us to award a grant depends on a number of things:

• The number of applications we are dealing with. At certain times we receive very high volumes of applications, so it can take longer for us to work through them to make a grant decision.
• Whether you have applied to us before. If you have never applied to Family Fund before (or haven’t applied for a long time) it can take us longer to process your grant because we have to consider your eligibility in more detail.
• What you have requested. We have suppliers in place for a wide range of items, but if you are asking for something unusual, it can take us a bit longer to look at your request.

[kasha1988]

Have you had any updates, im currently on week 10 and had no response from ff even tho they assured me i would by week 10. Best of luck i hope you get approved for the grant

[Mama777]

Hi,
Yes, I had a reply from Family Fund this week. So it took 12 weeks, however I have applied for 2 children and they found 1 of children eligible for help and they need more information about my other child.

This was in the email 👇🏻

One of our Independent Assessors, who works on behalf of Family Fund, would like to have an informal discussion with you.  We do this to build a bigger picture of their needs, to assess if they meet our Child and Young Person's Eligibility criteria.

The discussion will take place either over the telephone or by video call via TEAMS. The Independent Assessor will discuss this with you when they get in touch. The call will take around an hour. Please let us know if your contact details have changed so we can contact you.
 
During the call, you will be asked questions and encouraged to give examples of situations that may occur in your child’s daily life.
 
It would be helpful if you have the following information during the call to help you answer the questions:

• Names and contact details of any health professionals who know your child
• Name and contact details of their education provider
• Any recent reports from school or a healthcare professional, such as an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP) (or equivalent report detailing additional support in school) or Paediatrician report

• Details of prescribed medication

I hope it helps. I will update once I know the final decision.

[kasha1988]

BEST OF LUCK X

[Mama777]

Hi there,

I have an update. FF has sent me an email today. They have gave my younger son who has ASD, ADHD and Severe Language Disorder award of £450 but they haven’t find my other son who has ASD eligible. It took 15 weeks since I applied. I was expecting both of them will be eligible since it’s our first application but the financial times aren’t easy for many.

Good luck with your application.

V.

[Username1123]

Oh very interesting! I've got a phone call Tuesday to speak to one of the independent assesors! I also applied for both of my children both have asd ones got higher needs than the other though, but how was the phone call if you don't mind me asking? How long after the phone call did you have a decision? Xx

[Mama777]

The phone call lasted around 20 minutes. She was asking about how is he getting on at home and at school - communication, mobility, anxiety, stimming, sensory issues, if he needs help with personal hygiene and what level of care he requires in general, what support is he getting at school and how he copes (academically and socially). We switched to video call at this point and she wanted to see EHCP and took notes. That’s all I can remember. Have any supporting documents on hand in case the independent assessor wants to see it. She will write the report but it’s the FF who has final say. It took 12 days from the phone call with assessor to get the decision from FF.

Good luck with your application x

[Username1123]

Ah brilliant thanks so much for your reply! I'll deffo make sure I have her ehcp and other documents out that day! Fingers crossed I'll let you know how it goes! X

[Username1123]

Just an update the phone call went good the man I spoken to was lovely, just asked some more questions about my daughters diagnosis and how it affects her day to day, but I applied for both children and he said my son automatically qualifies but then said isla also qualifies so I'll recieve the letter within 7 days telling me what I'm entitled too and how much and stuff but yeah the man was lovely I spoke too, wasn't as bad as I expected! Xx

[Mama777]

I am pleased to hear that both of you children qualify for the grant. Have a lovely break lovely 😊 We SEN parents and our kids well deserve it! X

[Username1123]

Thanks alot hun! We will deffo have a fab time, we all sure do! X