£20,000 boost for Family Support Charity

Families in Focus, an independent Chelmsford-based charity supporting families with disabled children, has received a £20,000 donation from Essex-based health and social care organisation Provide Community Interest Company (CIC).

Founded in 1996 by a group of parents, Families in Focus’ mission is to enable children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities to thrive and feel stronger, empowered, and confident. The charity provides specialised and tailored support, advice, and peer-to-peer support services for SEND children and their siblings across Chelmsford and Colchester.

CEO of Families in Focus, Kirsty Cornell commented on the £20,000: “The grant is helping to fund our Family Support Service across Essex. Our service provides practical and emotional support to families who have a child with any kind of Special Educational Need or Disability. Family Support Advisors listen to the family, find out what they need, and then work with them to access the right support.

“We currently support over 1,500 families a year with education, for example applying for an Education and Health Care Plan or appealing a school placement, and we help over 300 families a year complete complex benefits forms, meaning they are more able to fund the additional costs of raising a SEND child. Our approach is to empower families so they can develop solutions for themselves and their child.”

Provide Community, delivers more than 50 health and social care services to children and adults in NHS and community settings. As a social enterprise, Provide Community  reinvests in supporting the community it serves. To date, Provide Community has donated over £3.5 million in grants, donations and match funding to charities and organisations in the communities it serves .

Chair of Provide Community Council of Governors Nicola Yarnall said, “As an organisation we are committed to supporting the essential work delivered by charities and community groups in the communities we serve that make a positive difference to people’s lives every day.” It is a privilege to be able to gift charities, like Families in Focus, this significant amount of funding.”