The Family Fund is campaigning for Treasury cash to allow it to offersupport grants to families with older disabled children. Theindependently run fund currently helps those with severely disabledchildren aged up to 15, with grants for family holidays and householdgoods. But it wants to be able to extend its remit to help 16- and17-year-olds.
It was asked to submit a business case by the Department for Educationand Skills to be fed into the Government's Comprehensive SpendingReview.
The fund also sent business plans to the individual administrations inScotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Last week it learned that theScottish Executive was so impressed by the plan that it was preparedgive the fund 100,000 for this year to start offering support toover-15s. This is on top of the 3m it has already given to thefund this year.
The fund's chief executive, Marion Lowe, said this was a positive step ayear on from the launch of the organisation's Happy Birthday Sweet16?
campaign. "It will enable us to begin to think how we might extend thehelp we provide to families with young people aged 16 in Scotland," shesaid.
She hoped Scotland could be "a test for rolling it out to othercountries".
Lowe also revealed she'd been told a high proportion of submissions tothe Government's review of services for disabled children from familieshad praised the Family Fund.
- www.familyfund.org.uk.
