Child disability charity welcomes £5K donation in its efforts to help families navigate cost of living crisis

Families InFocus (FIF), a Chelmsford-based charity providing holistic support to families of children (aged 0-25 years) with disabilities and special needs across Essex, has received £5000 from Provide Community.

FIF was established 25 years ago by a group of parents of children with special needs, who were committed to offering free, caring, practical and confidential support to families in a similar position. The charity has experienced significant demand since the Covid-19 pandemic and, more recently, the cost-of-living crisis.

“The demand for our help in obtaining the right disability benefits has gone through the roof as many families with a child with disabilities are being hit particularly hard by the increased cost-of-living.”

Kirsty Cornell, Chief Executive Officer for FIF, explained: “It’s been the busiest year we’ve ever had. We’ve supported over 2000 families, which is 200 more than we usually work with. Covid-19 has had a huge impact on children not being able to access the therapy and support they’ve needed, and we’ve seen a noticeable increase in anxiety at school.”

The donation made by Provide Community, a Community Interest Company (CIC) delivering health and social care services across Essex and East Anglia, will go towards FIF’s Family Support Service, which includes helping families with education, benefits, housing, health, social care, leisure, and transport issues.

Kirsty continued: “We are so grateful for Provide’s donation. It will help our team of Family Support Advisers offer one-to-one support and group workshops to even more families. The demand for our help in obtaining the right disability benefits has gone through the roof as many families with a child with disabilities are being hit particularly hard by the increased cost-of-living.”

Provide is an employee-owned company, giving its members the opportunity to nominate local causes they feel deserve a donation as part of its commitment as a CIC to reinvest its profits to benefit the communities it serves.

Joanna Dunne, Finance Business Partner at Provide, nominated FIF. She said: “The team at FIF is so passionate about the support they can give families. I am delighted the money we have donated is going to help them in their mission to provide such amazing support to even more parents in our community.”