www.fgks.org   »   [go: up one dir, main page]

 

Who we are

Image of Fund staff with a family we have helped.

The Family Fund is a registered charity covering the whole of the UK and mainly funded by the national governments of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Formed in 1973 by the UK Government to give practical help to families with severely disabled children under the age of 16. For over 20 years the Family Fund operated under the wing of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation but in 1996 became an independent charity.

Today we are the largest independent grant-giving organisation helping families across the UK who are raising a disabled child or young person with additional complex needs or children and young people with a serious illness.

We support families by providing grants that relate to the need of their disabled child or young person. In 2011-12, the Fund distributed over £33 million to over 59,000 families.

Our vision

The Family Fund’s vision is of an inclusive society where families with disabled and seriously ill children have the same choices and opportunities as other families.

Our mission statement

The vision will be achieved through the provision of grants and other assistance to families with disabled and seriously ill children to help ease the additional pressures they face.

Our values

The Family Fund will:

  • Be accessible to all families across the UK
  • Be flexible to families' needs and circumstances
  • Treat all families fairly
  • Listen to and be a voice for families
  • Use resources efficiently to ensure best value
  • Be open and honest with employees, and be committed to their training and development

The Fund’s eligibility criteria are set and regularly reviewed by our Board of Trustees. We work within an annual fixed budget and there is no automatic entitlement to our help. The Fund cannot assist where there is a responsibility on a statutory agency to help with the requested item and all grants are discretionary and depend on our having funding available.

As well as being a registered charity, the Fund is also a company limited by guarantee.