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Whizz-Kidz sponsors parliamentary group on disabled children

1 min read Health Social Care
Disabled children's charity Whizz-Kidz hopes to improve services for young people who use wheelchairs through a new all-party parliamentary group launched this week.

The charity is sponsoring the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Paediatric Mobility, which will be chaired by Tony Wright, the Labour MP for Great Yarmouth, and hopes to establish links with other parliamentary groups focusing on related issues.

Whizz-Kidz public affairs manager Sally Waters said the government had invested in the sector through its Aiming High programme and the Child Health Strategy, which was published in February. But she said that funding wasn't necessarily ringfenced and paediatric wheelchair services were often connected with adult services.

She added that she wanted MPs joining the group to be able to "talk knowledgeably" to their local primary care trusts.
Whizz-Kidz chief executive Ruth Owen said: "Around 70,000 disabled children are in need of appropriate mobility equipment to lead independent and active lives. The right equipment could make an enormous difference."

Speaking at the launch of the group on Tuesday, care services minister Phil Hope said: "Too many families with disabled children struggle to get the support they need - that's why we are funding short breaks, community equipment and wheelchair services for disabled children as part of our Child Health Strategy."


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