CREDIT CRUNCH HITS DISABLED CHILDREN
October 2008
Disabled children across the UK are emerging as some of the largest victims being hit hard by the credit crunch. The UK’s leading child disability charity, Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children, has reported an alarming increase in requests for help from struggling parents refused assistance by the government funded statutory services, turning to the charity.
New figures out today reveal a demand for Newlife’s services has increased more than 400% in just two months*, a crucial period as the UK braces itself for a recession. Calls to Newlife Nurses have heard of families putting wheelchairs on credit cards, in some cases the debt will long outlive the child.
Families that have to take children to multiple hospital appointments or distant special schools are suffering from fuel increases. Many families report worries about winter cold as immobile and sick children need more heating. Special diets and the additional cost of continence supplies are also creating serious problems for families of disabled children.
Victims of the credit crunch are facing financial hardship - rising living costs, increased household bills and fuel costs are leading concerned parents to turn to reliable charities to provide essential equipment and advice. Newlife, a national charity that focuses on health, research and care into children with disabilities, has said that it fears thousands of children refused equipment by statutory services and now under pressure from the credit crunch, will cause real problems for carers. This will result in families being forced to go without essentials unless funding for charities giving direct services improves.
Newlife’s Chief Executive, Mrs Sheila Brown OBE, says: “We understand that everyone is feeling the pinch of the credit crunch, including us, however there are a quarter of a million children across the country desperate for essential equipment. Statutory services often spend a pitiful amount on equipment for each disabled child and some charities are now unable to offer any support or have waiting lists of up to two years, so desperate parents are turning to Newlife for help. Last year we spent £1.2 million on equipment for disabled children.”
The major increase in calls for help and information shows the dramatic level of concern. Sheila continues: “Unfortunately with the current economic climate, poverty levels in the UK are continuing to soar, however those with disabled children are struggling more than ever as costs continue to rise yet more doors are being closed on their calls for help. 55% of disabled children grow up in, or at the margins of poverty** with the average income of families with disabled children standing at just £15,270, 23.5% below the UK mean income of £19,968. Shockingly, 21.8% of families with disabled children have incomes that are less than half the UK average**.”
If you are experiencing trouble receiving equipment for a disabled or seriously ill child, please contact a Newlife Nurse via the website www.newlifecharity.co.uk or call 0800 902 0095 for further information on how Newlife can help disabled children.
* August, 2008 to October, 2008.
** Source: Contact A Family, 2008
For further information please contact Laura Mason, PR Manager at Newlife on Tel: 01543 468 888 Ext:288, Mobile: 07870640930, Fax: 01543 468999 or Email: lmason@newlifecharity.co.uk.
