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19 July, 2022

Grant amount: £20,000

Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children

  • Grant programme: Positive Futures
  • Region: South East

Towards the cost of the emergency equipment loan scheme for disabled children in the South East of England

About the organisation

Newlife is a national charity, supporting disabled and terminally ill children and their families across the UK.  Founded over 30 years ago we offer a life-line for thousands of families, providing life-changing or life-saving specialist equipment when and where it is needed.  We are now the largest charitable provider of equipment for disabled children, helping 2,500 children across our services every year.

Organisation’s objectives

We aim to ensure disabled children, young people, and their families have access to the services and support they need to live a good quality of life and have the same opportunities as any other family. We transform the lives of thousands of disabled children every year, improving health and wellbeing, opening up new opportunities, reducing isolation and allowing independence

About the project

Emergency Equipment Loan service in The South East

The Peter Harrison Foundation supported Newlife’s Emergency Equipment Loan service, helping us to reach disabled children in crisis in The South East. Over the past 13 years Newlife has established a suite of disability equipment including specialist beds, cots and buggies that we are able to send out as loans to families who have a disabled child in an emergency situation. Families often contact us via our specialist nurse helpline and we work with parents to understand their needs and advise them on equipment that will make a difference. If an application is assessed by our nurses as being urgent – where a child is at serious risk of injury, is living with significant pain or is terminally ill – we aim to deliver the item that a child needs directly to family homes within one week, through our Emergency Equipment Loan service.

These children are often in emergency situations because of lengthy delays – sometimes years long – in local health provision or assessment. They may also be terminally ill or receiving palliative care and need equipment quickly to meet their needs. Unfortunately local authorities are not in a position to respond quickly to the needs of these children. Newlife’s suite of equipment bridges the gap so that children and families do not have to wait.

Impact of PHF’s support

The £20,000 grant from PHF enabled us to provide 29 emergency loans of specialist equipment to disabled children across The South East. These children, aged between 3 months and 15 years old, needed specialist beds to ensure they could be discharged from hospital and sleep safely at night or protective buggies to enable them to comfortably leave the house and access their communities.  Some of the children helped with The Peter Harrison Foundation funding were terminally ill or receiving palliative care and the equipment that they received on loan enabled them to spend precious time with their families at home, making memories in comfort and with dignity.

How does your organisation exemplify PHF’s values?

Newlife is the only charity of scale supporting equipment needs for families with children with ANY type of disability: physical, mental or learning disability and children who are terminally ill. We provide a wide range of equipment and support children from 0 to 19 years old.

We provide excellent support through our Care Services team and our helpline that is manned by a team of specialist nurses who understand disabilities, can give support and information on a wide range of child health conditions.

We aim to change the system as well as respond to urgent needs and campaign to improve opportunities and provision for disabled children.

Newlife Charity is unique in running a large retail business that sells new clothing from retailers that would otherwise be sent to landfill. All profit from this operation is spent on our charitable aims and ensures that we can sustain our vital services for disabled children.