Help for Carers > Different caring situations > Parent carers

Parent carers

Education

It is often worth remembering that you are not alone.
Every day over sixty children in the UK are born or diagnosed with a serious disability and the vast majority of them are cared for at home.

As a parent carer your concerns are likely to be about:

• Your child's health
• Your child's education
• Your own ability to provide care for your child
• The rest of your family's needs; the impact on the lives of any other children you have (Young Carers)
• What will happen as your child grows up

Government helps to improve the lives of disabled children and their families (added 29.2.08)
As part of the government's plan, low-income families with disabled young people aged 16 and 17 years are able to access a grant, through the Family Fund, which is the country's largest charitable provider of grants to severely disabled children. They make grants for items related to the child's needs such as home appliances, family holidays, driving lessions, computers, clothing and bedding. For more details phone 0845 130 45 42 (low cost line) or email: info@familyfund.org.uk


Parent Carers Planning Group (PCPG) (added 18.1.08) - The last meeting of the PCPG talked about the many parents who do not regard themselves as carers and that there is a need to highlight this problem and raise awareness. £25 million has been made available to local authorities for emergency respite, with about 20% being used to support parent carers. This is to provide home-based cover for a 48 hour period with some flexibility for families with disabled children who may need more support. Parents who wish to be involved should contact Kelly Willard on 01243 752084.

You can get more information from:

• Wellspring - Wellspring is a West Sussex charity for children and young people with disabilities and their parents and carers
• Child Disability Teams North and South
• Face to Face Befriending Scheme
- Face to Face provides a befriending service for parents of children with disabilities
• www.after16.org.uk
- website for disabled young people in transition to adulthood, their families and people they work with.
• www.cafamily.org.uk/ - Contact A Family is a national charity providing advice, information and support for families with disabled children. Produces a range of useful factsheets available to download from the website
• www.youngminds.org.uk - YoungMinds is a national charity committed to improving the mental health of all children and young people.
• www.special-needs-kids.co.uk - Special Needs Kids is an information directory and shopping site to help parents and carers of children with special needs

There are people who can help:

West Sussex Carers Support Services (formerly West Sussex Carers Network)

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