VALUABLE service for families with disabled children has been thrown a lifeline thanks to a government grant.

Parents of disabled are thrown a lifeline
Calderdale parents and carers council gets cash.

Published on Sun Mar 06 12:00:26 GMT 2011

A VALUABLE service for families with disabled children has been thrown a lifeline thanks to a government grant.

Calderdale Parents’ and Carers’ Council, based at Hanson Lane Enterprise Centre, Halifax, has been awarded £21,640 from the Department of Health’s Financial Assistance Fund, which supports charities who would not otherwise have survived to the end of the financial year.

Charity bosses are jubilant that the service can continue to help the 550-plus families in Calderdale every year.

Chief executive Chris Easton said: “I’m dead chuffed. The money is critical at this moment. Without it, the worst-case scenario is that we would have ceased to be able to operate.

“There’s so much change going on in the public sector and we needed some support during the transition.

“The last six months have been incredibly tough and this funding gives us a little bit of leeway and flexibility about how we provide our services.”

The charity made a loss in the last financial year but now plans to move away from being heavily reliant on grants towards what services it could sell, such as training and consultancy.

The council provides activities, courses and contacts for families of disabled children and young people.

Corinne Malone, of Holme Road, Warley, Halifax, uses the service with her son Joseph, 14, who has no speech and uses a wheelchair.

She said: “I’m so pleased, not just for me but for all the families in Calderdale. We would be lost without it.

“They’ve helped me learn things to help towards bringing up my son, organised lots of courses and activities and are always at the end of the phone whenever I need them. They’re really valued.”

http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/local/parents_of_disabled_are_thrown_a_lifeline_1_3149491