Finance, grants and legal information
Financial advice
Contact a Family is a UK wide charity and provides support, advice and information for families with disabled children, no matter what their condition or disability. They have a wide range of financial information and booklets available on their website. Contact a Family has produced a free guide to Benefit Changes and also have a Financial Helpline - 0808 808 3555.
Turn2us is a charitable service which helps people access the money available to them – through welfare benefits, grants and other help. The website includes a benefit checker section, grants search section and a free and confidential helpline open 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday - 0808 802 2000.
Turn 2us has also set up a Response Fund - a charitable fund to financially help people who have experienced a life changing event in the last 12 months.
Together for Short Lives are the only UK charity that can make applications to the Turn2Us Response Fund on behalf of families caring for a child with a life-limiting / life-threatening illness to this fund. Eligibility includes a low-income and a family having had had a life-changing event within the past 12 months. They can also refer to the BBC Children in Need's Emergency Essentials programme. Contact their help line for more information.
County level cost of living support
Money and benefits | Norfolk County Council
Cost of living support | Suffolk County Council
Support with the cost of living | Cambridgeshire County Council
Money, debt and benefits: Emergency money and food | Essex County Council
Assistance with energy bills
We understand that for many families, the increase is energy bills is a very worrying time. Please see below for organisations that can provide advice and support.
The Energy Advice Line 0800 073 9213 is a free number, providing advice for people who may be struggling to pay fuel bills or to keep their home warm. It is run in partnership with and managed by Agility Eco, a leading fuel poverty services provider. They will assess your individual circumstances and go through the eligibility criteria. Their criteria covers most income support, benefits and credits.
The Priority Services Register is a free support service to help people in vulnerable situations. Each energy supplier keeps their own register and you need to contact them to get on the register. If you don’t know your supplier, the Electricity Network can provide information – search by postcode who can provide details.
British Gas Energy Trust helps families and individuals experiencing hardship who are struggling with gas and electricity debts by awarding grants to clear those debts. Email: contact@britishgasenergytrust.org.uk
Fuel allotment charities
We have put together a list of 180 fuel allotment charities throughout East Anglia that are providing help during the energy crisis we are currently facing. They provide very specific help depending on your location and eligibility.
Please note that we have not contacted these trusts and so families will need to get in touch themselves to check eligibility.
You can find contact details for these organisations on the Charity Commission website.
Grant making organisations
Anglian Water
Supports customers in financial hardship. It offers support through their Priority Services Register and Extra Care Support.
The Boparan Charitable Trust
The trust helps children and young people under the age of 18, who are disadvantaged through poverty, disability and terminal illness.
The Buttercup Children's Trust
Provides grants for hospital travel, medical equipment, sensory equipment and short breaks within the UK.
The Campbell Burns Metabolic Trust
Provides financial assistance to families of children with metabolic disorders through the provision of assistance grants.
The Child Funeral Charity
Assists families financially in England and Wales who have to arrange a funeral for a baby or child aged 16 or under. Applications are via healthcare professionals.
Disability Grants
Grants can be searched for by age, ie, children and young people or by requirement, i.e., equipment, housing, holidays.
Elsie’s Rose
Charity providing financial assistance to parents when a child is at end of life or has recently died. Contact the charity for more details.
Family Action
Provides grants for medical treatment, services, facilities or equipment. Also includes essential household and educational needs. Assistance is primarily targeted at families and individuals on low incomes.
The Family Fund Trust
Provides grants for things that make life easier and more enjoyable for the disabled child, young person and their family, such as washing machines, driving lessons, computers and holidays.
The Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust
Grants are aimed at medical and household aids to enable people to manage at home and live as independently as possible.
Hana's Gift
Supports bereaved families in Norfolk and Suffolk who have lost babies through late miscarriage, stillbirth & neonatal loss, and also children up to the age of 5 years old. They assist with the costs of memorials (headstones and plaques) and the provision of memory boxes to families in Norfolk & Suffolk.
Independence at Home
Provides grants for all age groups who have a physical or learning disability or long term illness and need financial help towards the cost to improve your independence, comfort, safety and quality of life.
The Joseph Patrick Trust
The welfare fund within Muscular Dystrophy UK provides grants towards the costs of specialist equipment such as powered wheelchairs, adapted computers and electric beds, for children and adults with muscular dystrophy or a related neuromuscular condition.
Josie's Dragonfly Trust
Provides a one off cash gift of up to £500 to a young person under the age of 25 with terminal cancer. See more via the terms and conditions page
The League of the Helping Hands
Helps those living on a very low income, receiving the appropriate welfare benefits and have exhausted all other funding sources including statutory funding and specialist charities.
Little Ted Foundation – cost of living grant
If your child has been in hospital for more than 7 days, this charity can offer a grant of up to £200 to help towards expenses that can build up, such as car parking, additional fuel, convenience foods etc.
Michael Crawford Children's Charity
Provides grants to both individuals and charities to benefit children and young people. Telephone 0207 433 2400 or write to The Michael Crawford Children's Charity, Regina House, 124 Finchley Road, London, NW3 5JS.
React
Provides funding for equipment and other expenses.
Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity
Provides grants up to £500 for families facing financial hardship while caring for a child with a life-limiting condition. The charities remit excludes malignant cancers.
Sunny Day Children's Fund
Can award small grants to families for items such as white goods, medical equipment, sensory equipment etc.
The Talisman Charitable Trust
Provides grants to individuals in need to support educational, health or housing needs and those with a disability.
Variety - The Children's Charity
Provides grants to individuals and organisations for medical equipment, care equipment such as feeding equipment, hoists, and sensory play or mobility equipment. Grants can be anywhere between £100 and £6,000.
The Vicar's Relief Fund
Provides small crisis grants to support people experiencing homelessness or vulnerable housing.
Norfolk based trusts
King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Charity, this charity helps families who live in the area / borough only. For more details contact Veronica Stiles, telephone: 01485 533352 or write to The Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Charity, 54 Park Road, Hunstanton, Norfolk, PE36 5DL.
Norwich Consolidated Charities provides help with basic household goods including beds and bedding, kitchen and furniture. It can also help with exceptional items or payments.
The Black Sheep Cricket Club, for families in financial hardship as a result of their child's illness or for help in fundraising for him / her. The cricket club provides grants to help with the purchase of special equipment for children with special needs or to help their families. It has already helped a number of children who have been supported by EACH. For a confidential chat, call David Goodherham on 07891 040606 or email davidspersonal62@gmail.com
Cambridgeshire based trusts
The Ebyon Trust provides financial and social support to assist children and young people with physical or learning disabilities. For more details contact Bob & Carol Thorndike on telephone number 01480 468998 or write to them at 10 Tennyson Avenue, St. Ives, PE27 6TU.
Girton Town Charity for those living in Girton, near Cambridge. The charity provides personal grants to families affected by illness or disability. Grants can be made to adapt homes for health reasons, improve mobility and broaden opportunities for children and individuals.
The Huntingdon Freemen's Trust provides grants for the benefit of children, families, the disabled and people who are on a low income or struggling due to a variety of circumstances. Applicants may be working or in receipt of benefits. They will consider grants for a variety of purposes including help with medical and mobility equipment and adaptations.
Suffolk based trusts
AJ's Legacy is a charity that aims to relieve the financial hardship and sickness, either individually or generally, of young people living in Stowmarket and surrounding villages by providing grants, items and services to individuals and / or other charities. Click here to access the AJ's Legacy website.
Ipswich Holiday Help for Children provides small grants of up to £200 to enable children and families in Ipswich and South Suffolk to take a break.
Martineau Trust fund items that are needed, or expenses that are incurred, as a direct consequence of an illness or disability. Applications need to be made by health care professionals for individuals.
Advocacy and legal advice
Advocacy
Together for Short Lives run an advocacy service. Use the link below to find out more. (PDF - opens in new tab)
Legal advice
Irwin Mitchell Solicitors have prepared a series of factsheets and template letters to provide support to families who have children with special educational needs. They also have a series of template letters for those seeking legal advice for health & social care issues.
You can access the information free of charge on their website.