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Family fund
- By Tricia
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Sun 13 Apr 2008 15:56
Don't know how many of you are aware of the following which I have found on the news section of the Family fund website.
9 November 2007
Government gives Family Fund £8.4 to help the families of disabled 16- and 17-year-olds lead ordinary lives.
Severely disabled young people and their families living on a low income are going to get extra financial support to buy the things they need for everyday life, thanks to an £8.4 million boost for the Family Fund from the Department of Children, Schools, and Families (DCSF). The new money was announced by Education Secretary Ed Balls at an event organised by the Campaign to End Child Poverty on Monday, 10 December 2007.
The extra cash will enable the Family Fund, which gives families with severely disabled children grants for essential items, to extend its support to severely disabled young people in England aged 16 and 17. At the moment, the Fund cannot afford to help young people past their sixteenth birthday and families fall into debt as a result. The Family Fund now expects to make over 16,000 grants to disabled young people aged 16 and 17 over the next three years.
Marion Lowe, Chief Executive of the Family Fund, said:
“As a member of the Campaign to End Child Poverty, we congratulate Ed Balls and the government for their continuing commitment to disabled children and to tackling child poverty. Teenagers are expensive for all families but especially for those with disabled children, who cost three times as much to bring up. The extra £8.4m will enable the Family Fund to keep families with severely disabled young people aged 16 and 17 from falling into the debt-poverty trap. At the moment, when our grants stop, many families are driven into debt, which they find hard to pay off as they are caring unpaid for their disabled child.
“The Family Fund has a proud record of fast, efficient and thoughtful grant-making. We are delighted that the government has listened to our arguments for greater funding and given us this vote of confidence."
Source of information from web site