Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity

Overview

Who is eligible for a grant?

The programme is open to any family residing in the UK who meet the following criteria:

There is a child (or children) who has a serious illness that could be life-limiting, as described by the following:[1]

• Group 1 – Life threatening conditions for which curative treatment may be feasible but can fail. (e.g. epilepsy, irreversible organ failures of heart, liver, kidneys.)
• Group 2 – Conditions where premature death is inevitable. (e.g. cystic fibrosis)
• Group 3 – Progressive conditions without curative treatment options. (e.g. Batten disease, mucopolysaccaridoses, muscular dystrophy.)
• Group 4 – Irreversible but non-progressive conditions causing severe disability leading to susceptibility to health complications and likelihood of premature death. (e.g. sickle cell disease, cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities such as brain or spinal cord insult.)
• Group 5 – Syndromes without a name (SWAN) causing severe, chronic disability or illness.

Please note other eligibility criteria -

• The child (or children) is eligible to receive Medium or High Rate DLA (the Care component) or the Enhanced Rate for 6 of the 12 activities in the PIP or has an equivalent level of need
• The child (or children) has yet to reach their 25th birthday
• The family are living in financial hardship
• The family has not received a grant for this child (or children) from the Marvellous Family Grants in the last 12 months
• The grant is for the benefit of the child directly.

What can the grant be used for?

Marvellous Family Grants are aimed at supporting the wellbeing of the family. The most important thing is that members of the family are involved in deciding what support they need.

Grants of up to £1,000 are available to enable families to access a variety of support including;

• Physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, hydrotherapy and counselling, where the provision on the NHS is not sufficient
• Play, art or music therapy sessions
• Specialist equipment, for example, specialist seats and walkers, epilepsy monitors etc
• Everyday items that will improve the Child's/Young Person's quality of life and keep them out of hospital longer, for example furniture, white goods and clothing (where this is required because of the Child's/Young Person's condition)
• Attendance at a medical/support group conference
• Ongoing social activities, lessons and memberships
• iPads/laptops where there is evidence that it will be educational benefit to the Child/Young Person
• Travel (including parking), whilst a Child/Young Person is in hospital (Note grants of up to a maximum of £300 are considered for travel and parking)

They are very open to creative or innovative approaches - if you would like to discuss an idea before applying please call the Programmes Officer on 01494 917689.

Who can apply? VERY IMPORTANT

They are only able to accept applications completed via a health or social care professional employed by a statutory organisation (NHS or local authority). This could be a nurse, doctor, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, social worker, family support worker, health visitor etc. Ideally, this should be someone who knows your family and your history and would be happy to complete an application on your behalf. They call this person the Applicant Officer.

You will need to contact the Programmes Officer on 01494 917689 or at grants@roalddahlcharity.org to get a validation code before an AO can begin applying.

Please note that if the AO is from a charitable organisation whose annual turnover is greater than £1 million, then the AO will need to complete a question on the application form as to why their organisation is unable to fund this themselves.

For full guidelines on the scheme please contact the charity.