We help families across the UK who are raising a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 17 or under. You can apply to Family Fund if:
- You live in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales.
- You are the parent or carer of a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 0-17 who lives with you
- You are currently living in the UK and done so for at least six months, or three months if your child is less than six months old.
- You are eligible to work and apply for public funds
- Your child is not in Local Authority care
You need to also have evidence of entitlement to any one of the following:*
- Universal Credit
- Child Tax Credit
- Working Tax Credit
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income Related Employment Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Housing Benefit
- Pension Credit.
Your child or young person has a high level of additional support needs arising from a long term disability or disabling condition or a serious or life limiting illness. By long term we mean lasting or likely to last 12 months or more. Please read our child and young person eligibility criteria.
*All of the above income evidence, needs to be the most recent award received and should contain the name of the main carer who has applied for the grant, and their current address as detailed on the grant application. Documents provided can be sent electronically or in paper form. Please note it is in your best interest to send copies of paper documents as we cannot return the originals. Should you send your evidence electronically it can be either through screenshot, photo or emailing into us. If you do not provide us with documentation showing the full legal name of yourself and the child/children applied for, this may delay the grant getting to you. Please be advised that carers allowance cannot be used as proof of income.
Family Fund
We will look at any grant request that relates to the needs of your disabled or seriously ill child, young person and your family, as long as the item requested is not the responsibility of a statutory agency. A statutory agency includes places such as local authorities or health services.
Our most frequently requested grants include washing machines, sensory toys, family breaks, bedding, tablets, furniture, outdoor play equipment, clothing, and computers. We offer grants for many more things too, and are happy for you to contact us with requests for things that you think will help meet your child’s additional needs.
When applying, think about what would make a difference to you and your child. We consider grant requests in order of priority. If you would like to ask for more than one item, make sure you tell us what is the most important item first.
We have limited funding and we may not be able to help with everything you have asked for, especially where items are of a high value.
Once we have made a decision on your application, you will receive an award letter to explain whether or not we can provide a grant and how it will be provided. Please check your award letter for details on how to use your grant. If you have any questions about your award letter, please contact us.
Our grants are provided through a range of suppliers. Using suppliers allows us to arrange discounts to ensure our funding goes further and helps more families. For some grants we may make a BACS (bank) payment direct to a nominated bank account.
To apply go to: www.familyfund.org.uk
Telephone 01904 550055