Most people researching funding for home aids and adaptations head straight for the council-run Disabled Facilities Grant. That grant is the right tool for building work – ramps, level-access showers, stairlifts fixed to the structure of the house. But it was never designed to pay for the washing machine, the specialist car seat, or the sensory equipment a family actually needs day to day. That gap is where the Family Fund sits, and if you are raising a disabled or seriously ill child on a low income in the UK, it is one of the most useful charity grants you have likely never applied for.
What the Family Fund Actually Covers
The Family Fund is the largest UK charity providing grants and services to families raising disabled or seriously ill children and young people on a low income. It began in 1973 as a UK Government initiative and became an independent charity in 1996, and it now funds a genuinely wide range of practical, everyday items rather than construction work.
Typical grant items include household essentials such as washing machines, fridges, freezers, cookers, bedding and furniture; sensory and play equipment including specialist and sensory toys, games consoles and outdoor play equipment; technology such as computers, laptops and tablets; and mobility items including specialist bikes and trikes. The Fund’s Mobility Support strand also provides a car leasing package for children under three with significant mobility needs, bridging the gap until they become eligible for the national Motability scheme. Beyond that, it will consider clothing, family breaks, garden improvements and similar requests. The working principle is broad: the Fund will consider any grant request that relates to the needs of your disabled or seriously ill child, as long as a statutory agency – the council or the NHS – is not already responsible for providing that item.
Who Qualifies: The Eligibility Test
Eligibility rests on three things. First, residency: you need to be a permanent resident of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, with current legal residency and at least six months in the UK (three months if your child is under six months old), and be eligible to apply for public funds. Second, your relationship to the child: you must be the parent or carer of a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 17 or under who lives at home with you (separate "Your Opportunity" programmes exist for some 18 to 24 year olds, though these can be closed to new applications at times). Third, income: families need to be on a low income or receiving qualifying benefits such as Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit or Pension Credit. If you are not on any of those, you can still apply, but you will need to provide household income details instead.
The child’s needs are assessed separately from any formal diagnosis. The Fund looks for a high level of additional support needs arising from a long-term disability or serious illness expected to last 12 months or more, typically affecting three or more areas of daily life such as personal care, communication, supervision, education, social access, medical or therapeutic treatment, or the physical home environment. A child already in local authority care or foster care does not qualify, since responsibility sits elsewhere.
What You Can Expect to Receive
Grant values vary by need rather than following a fixed scale, and the Fund does not promise a set amount per application. As a guide to scale, historic figures show an average award of around £564 with 1.6 items per family; more recent typical awards sit closer to £400–£500 per family, and holiday or family-break grants typically run £250–£500. Family breaks have historically been the single most requested category of grant.
| Route | What it funds | Who it’s for | Typical value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disabled Facilities Grant | Fixed building work: ramps, level-access showers, stairlifts, widened doorways | Any age, means-tested for adults, no means test for a disabled child under 18 | Up to £30,000 (England) |
| Family Fund | Household items, technology, mobility aids, sensory equipment, breaks | Low-income families with a disabled or seriously ill child aged 17 or under | Typically £400–£500 per grant |
How to Apply, Step by Step
The most straightforward route is the Family Fund’s own website, and the process runs in a predictable sequence:
- Check eligibility first. The website’s eligibility checker filters out applications that would be declined on residency, income or the child’s age before you invest time in the form.
- Register an online account. Everything from here runs through that account, including any future reapplication.
- Complete the three-part application. This covers your own details, your child’s details, and a description of the specific item or items you are requesting, with as much detail as possible about how the item addresses your child’s needs.
- Upload supporting evidence. Expect to provide proof of income or benefits (a recent benefit award letter, or payslips if you’re not on qualifying benefits) and proof of your child’s condition, which can be a professional report, a disability benefit award letter such as DLA or PIP, or a school support or learning plan.
- Submit and wait for review. Turnaround varies with demand; some applicants report a response within roughly six weeks, though it can run longer at busy periods.
If you have received a grant before, you can generally reapply once 24 months have passed since your last application (18 months in Scotland). New applicants who prefer not to apply online can request a printed application pack, and a confidential helpline with translation support is available for anyone who needs it.
Where the Family Fund Fits Alongside Council and NHS Support
None of this replaces your council’s Disabled Facilities Grant, an Occupational Therapy assessment, or NHS-funded equipment loans – it sits beside them. The Family Fund exists specifically for the gap those statutory routes were never built to fill: the everyday equipment, technology and household items that make a genuine difference to a family raising a disabled or seriously ill child, but that no single council budget line covers. If a council assessment has told you a request falls outside what they can fund, or a request has simply never come up in that conversation because it was never a "building work" item, the Family Fund is worth checking on its own merits – not as a consolation prize, but as a separate, well-established charity route with its own criteria and its own money behind it.