Company update, Family Fund Business Services
This UK Charity Week, the FFBS team would like to highlight our parent charity, Family Fund, for all the amazing work it does to support families with disabled, or seriously ill, children across the UK. With the current cost of living crisis pushing families to the brink – who already faced three times higher costs to raise their children – Family Fund’s work is more important than ever. The charity is seeing increased applications and working hard to get essential grants and services to the people who need them most through these challenging times.
Family Fund Business Services was formed in 2013, with the dual purpose of sharing our procurement expertise across the grant-making sector and generating unrestricted funding for Family Fund. Since 2013, we have gifted almost £9 million to the charity.
Why is unrestricted funding so important?
Much of the grant funding received by Family Fund is restricted to be spent on providing vital support to families throughout the UK. Additional unrestricted funding generated by FFBS also means Family Fund can deliver bespoke support initiatives including its Your Opportunity scheme for young adults aged 18-24 and its Siblings Matter Too scheme, giving grants to siblings of disabled children.
Your Opportunity
Your Opportunity is one of the few UK programmes for disabled young people aged 18-24, living at home, who lose over half their support and benefits when they reach adulthood.
The scheme funds grants for lightweight wheelchairs, transport to appointments and clubs, day trips, white goods to aid independence and technology to improve young people’s quality of life and help realise personal ambitions.
Twenty-five-year-old Amy, who lives with her family in Wales, has a condition called Coffin-Lowry syndrome, a rare genetic disease that impacts her body, causing her to have a double curvature of the spine and learning disabilities. Amy has mobility issues and relies on a wheelchair to get around. She is also hypersensitive to sound and has sensory needs.
Amy and her family received a Your Opportunity grant, which helped them to get back to normality after the COVID-19 lockdowns. Amy’s mum, Kerrie-Ann, told us about the difference the grant made: “We received day trips, which allowed us to visit Amy’s favourite place of all time, Lapland UK. We spent that quality time together, forming unforgettable memories, it was fantastic. The grant allowed us to see new places and enjoy new experiences… we spent quality time together and have memories we will never forget.”
Through Family Fund, Amy’s family has also received a tumble dryer, which Kerrie-Ann describes as “a godsend…(making) such a difference because Amy is doubly incontinent. There is a lot of washing and drying involved every day.”
Siblings Matter Too
FFBS funding also supports Siblings Matter Too, a scheme giving grants to siblings of seriously ill and disabled children, whose needs can often get overlooked, but who play a key role in providing support to their disabled family members.
Richie, fifteen, lives in London with his mum Emma, and brother Thomas, eight, who has feeding difficulties and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Mum Emma says “Richie is 15 years old and he doesn’t really get a look in, he gets left out. Thomas is exhausting and gets all the attention. Richie is quiet and shy and doesn’t like to get involved in certain things, which I feel really guilty about, and he’s of that age where he wants to do other things so it’s really hard to try and find something to do with him.”
Richie received a Siblings Matter Too grant for £50, which he used for a video game; “He was so happy! Richie does get overlooked and I cannot afford to buy him new games so I usually get him second hand ones. It was such a treat for him and it has kept him occupied.”
Procurement with a purpose
Many businesses that strive for social value pledge to donate 1% of their profits to charity. At FFBS social value is our core purpose, so we donate 100% of our profits to Family Fund.
When you do business through Family Fund, you’ll be getting more than great prices, reduced administration time and top-notch customer service. You’ll also providing vital help to families with disabled and seriously ill children right across the UK
To find out more about the great work our parent charity is doing, have a look here.
To deliver social value when you procure goods, find out more about what we do here, or get in touch at businessdevelopment@familyfundservices.co.uk to see how we can help.
