Grants and support

Overview

If you have been turned down for statutory funding, or statutory funding cannot pay for what you need, you may be able to get support from grant-giving charities and trusts. Each charity or trust will decide its own priorities for who and what it will fund.  Grant funders will not pay for things you have already paid for. You can apply to some funders yourself (particularly for grants for a disabled child), but most funders require an application to be made by a professional such as a GP or social worker. This guide includes examples of grant-giving organisations.

Grants to help disabled people

Mobility Trust

The Mobility Trust provides powered wheelchairs and scooters to severely disabled people, of all ages, who cannot get the equipment through other means. The Trust sources the equipment; it does not give grants for you to buy the equipment yourself. The Trust will arrange and pay for an occupational therapy assessment for you before they will provide any equipment. 

You can apply directly to the Trust yourself.  To see if the Mobility Trust can help you, the first step is to fill in the information form on their website. They also have a phone number and email address, if you need more information:

Phone:  0118 9842588
Email:  mobility@mobilitytrust.org.uk

The Hospital Saturday Fund

The Hospital Saturday Fund provides grants to people with a disability/health condition to pay for a wide range of mobility equipment, medical aids, home adaptations and therapeutic treatments such as physiotherapy. You cannot apply yourself, you need a professional to apply on your behalf. Applications are made via the website, where there is also more information on what they will fund.

Independence at Home

Provides grants to people of any age who are disabled or have a long term health condition, to help them live independently at home. To receive a grant you must be in financial need, have an ‘eligible’ health condition, and be unable to obtain funding from statutory sources. Grants are provided for mobility and disability equipment, home adaptations, communications equipment, general furnishings, beds and more.
You cannot apply yourself, a professional must apply on your behalf using the application form on their website.

Barchester’s Charitable Foundation

Provides grants to adults 18 + with a physical disability, learning disability, or mental health condition. Grants of £100-£600 are given towards the cost of buying or adapting mobility equipment for outdoor use. This includes wheelchairs, mobility scooters, bikes/trikes and car adaptations.

You cannot apply yourself, a professional must apply on your behalf. 

Equipment for Independent Living

Provides one-off grants towards disability equipment for people in financial hardship over the age of 16. The equipment must help with your mobility, independence or ability to work. Applications must be made by a professional. To access the grant’s contact details, professionals can set up an intermediary account on the Turn2Us grant search website.

Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust

Provides grants to British citizens, who are disabled or in ill health. Funds can pay for medical and household aids to help with independent living. Examples of items funded include wheelchairs, nebulisers, computers, washing machines and more.

Funding must not be available elsewhere. Applications must be made by a professional and when applying for specialised equipment must include an occupational health or physiotherapy report specifying the need for that particular make/brand. Application forms can be found on the Trust’s website.

The Talisman Charitable Trust

Provides grants to people ‘going short’; on a low income or living in poverty. One off grants are provided to help with disability as well as education, health and housing.

Applications must be made on your behalf by a council worker, Citizen’s Advice or charity worker. Grants can only be made is you have claimed all the state benefits you are entitled to. 

Grants to help disabled children

Caudwell Children’s Trust

Provides funding for disabled/chronically ill children under the age of 19 years, for mobility and sensory equipment. The trust also provides grants for children/young people up to the age of 25, for sports equipment. Equipment which can be funded includes powered wheelchairs, therapy trikes, car seats, buggies and more.

To be eligible, the child must be from a household with an overall income of less than £45,000 a year. Grants can pay for up to 70-80% of the cost of equipment. Parents/Guardians may apply for their child, though a supporting letter from the child’s physiotherapist or occupational therapist is needed. To apply, fill in the application form on the trust’s website. 

Tel: 0345 300 1348
Email: applications@caudwellchildren.com

Children’s Hope Foundation

Provides grants to children/young people up to the age of 25 with a disability, illness, and poverty. The foundation provides grants for a wide range of things that will benefit a child’s health and wellbeing. Examples include medical equipment, medical treatments ,and equipment to aid learning such as computers. The Foundation will accept applications directly from parents/guardians. To apply, download an application form from their website.

Tel: 020 7700 6855
Email: applications@childrenshopefoundation.org.uk

Challenger Children’s Fund

Provide grants for physically disabled children under 18 years, in Scotland. Funding is provided to meet a specific need not covered by statutory sources e.g clothing, apparatus, equipment, household appliances, furniture, adaptions to home or garden. Applications are normally made through a third party. Parents can contact the organisation directly.

Tel: 07531 580 414
Email: info@ccfscotland.org

Benevolent funds

Many large employers, trade associations, professional bodies and trade unions have benevolent funds which are open to applications from employees or ex-employees of a specific industry. Sometimes they can also help the dependents of the employee/ex employee too. Here is a list of some benevolent funds that might be relevant to you:

For Nurses/Ex Nurses:

• The Benevolent Fund for Nurses in Scotland
• The Nurses Memorial
• The Cavell Trust which also helps current/ex healthcare assistants

Drinks & Hospitality Industry:

• Bensoc
• Hospitality Action
• Drinks Trust
• Licensed Trade Charity

Retail & Sales:

• Grocery Aid
• The Salespeople’s Charity
• Retail Trust
• Fashion and Textile Children’s Trust: for parents or carers of a child under 18 who work (or have worked) in a fashion, textile or clothing related business

Armed Forces/ex armed forces

• The British Legion 
• SSAFA

Other Industries

• Dance Fund: dancers, dance teachers and choreographers
• RSABI: Scottish agriculture
• BEN: automotive industry workers
• Perennial: horticulture Industry

Grants for people with specific health conditions

Some charities and trusts related to a specific health condition offer financial assistance to people with that health condition. Some examples are:

• Cystic Fibrosis Trust 
• Kidney Care UK
• Macmillan (for people with cancer)
• Young Lives vs Cancer (for children and young people with cancer aged 0-24)
• Pulmonary Fibrosis Trust
• The Brittle Bone Society Equipment Grant
• Muscular Dystrophy UK’s Joseph Patrick Trust
• Meningitis Now Rebuilding Futures Fund
• Terrence Higgins Hardship Fund  (for people living with HIV)
• James and Grace Anderson Trust (for people with cerebral palsy & carers of those with cerebral palsy)
• Nihal Armstrong Trust (Grants for under 18’s with Cerebral Palsy)
• Spinal Injuries Scotland
• Aspire (for people with Spinal Cord Injury)

Further Information and useful contacts

There are many grant and trust funders that may help you, and we can only list a small number of them here. A good source of information about grant funders is the Turn2us website here Turn2us Grants Search

You may qualify for help because of a disability, or because of your other circumstances, such as being on a low income.

The final section of this guide gives suggestions on the kind of information that may help if you are applying for a grant for yourself.

For information on financial assistance for holidays, see our Holiday and Respite Grants information guide

Applying for a grant for yourself

If you have found a charity or trust that will accept an application directly from you, you are likely to need to provide them with a lot of information. Grant funders will each have their own rules, but most will want to know that you have claimed all the benefits that you are entitled to and that you are not applying for something a statutory service (such as the council or NHS) should be providing. Each grant funder will have its own priorities, and may decide who they can help based on age, location, religion, disability or other circumstances.

You can find many trusts through the Turn2us website Turn2us Grants Search

When you search for a grant or make an application, the questions you are likely to be asked include information about

• your age
• address
• other people you live with
• the work you do or used to do
• your income, savings and expenses
• health conditions or disabilities
• caring responsibilities
• why you are applying: why you need funding and the difference it will make if your application succeeds

If the grant maker will accept an application from you, but you’d like a hand with the application, you can ask your local Citizens Advice Bureau to help or call our helpline on 0300 323 9961 and we will try to find a local organisation that can help you.