Press Release: People’s Postcode Trust Award for Kindred
For Immediate Release: press release re People’s Postcode Trust Award, April 2022
Players of People’s Postcode Lottery enable Kindred Advocacy to support parents of children with complex needs in Scotland!
We are delighted to announce that the People’s Postcode Trust, a grant-giving charity funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, have awarded Kindred £23,708 to support the running of the charity over the next year.
This award will help meet Kindred’s core costs for the next year which means the provision of life-changing support to 550 families of children with complex needs, from bases at the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and our community teams in Edinburgh and Fife.
Kindred, an independent parent-led charity established over 30 years ago, provides parents with practical support including accessing funding and benefits, as well as advocacy enabling their voices to be heard in relation to their child’s health and educational needs. We also offer a parental training program, Early Positive Approaches to Support (E-PAtS), which helps parents to understand their child’s behaviour, sleep patterns etc and to implement positive strategies as well as to come to terms with their child’s diagnosis. Most importantly Kindred provides a vital non-judgemental listening ear for parents coping with the additional emotional challenges of being a parent of a child with complex needs, including access to counselling when required.
Hazel Cornish, Kindred’s Fundraiser says “Kindred would like to thank the Trust, and to all the People’s Postcode Lottery players who made this funding possible. We know that it will make a positive difference for hundreds of families of children with disabilities and long-term conditions in Scotland this year. ”
You can find out more about how Kindred supports families of children with complex needs at www.kindred-scotland.org
Case Study 1
Lauren Little and baby Cooper
Above: Kindred parent Lauren Little with baby Cooper.
Photo credit Malcolm Cochrane
©Malcolm Cochrane Photography for Kindred Advocacy
Cooper is a young baby who was born prematurely with a serious kidney condition which will leave him requiring dialysis and possibly a transplant in the future. Since his birth, single mum Lauren has had to travel the 92-mile round trip from home to Edinburgh’s Royal Hospital for Children and Young People Hospital on his many stays and interactions with the hospital team.
Lauren, Cooper’s mum, was referred to Kindred by a ward staff nurse, who recommended Kindred for emotional support and financial advice. Lauren met with Kindred advocacy worker Rana, who began supporting Lauren with the complex needs shared by so many Kindred families.
All this was taking place simultaneously while Lauren was learning how to care for Cooper, including tube-feeding and administering his medications, after surgery. Lauren has had fortnightly trips to the hospital to monitor Cooper’s health.
Quotes:
Speaking of the support received from Kindred, mum Lauren says
“Kindred makes a huge difference to families, it’s good to know you have kindred to lean on for extra support. It really helps families to know Kindred is there for them”
Dr Rozi Ardill, consultant paediatrician at the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People, Edinburgh, gives a professional’s opinion:
“Lauren has been supported by the renal and urology teams in Edinburgh and Fife, and also by her amazing family. However, without the help of Kindred this journey would have been much harder for Lauren and her family. Rana and the team at Kindred have been so helpful in supporting Lauren with financial aspects such as DLA application, travel expenses, housing and other practical support, as well as emotional support for Lauren through this challenging time. It’s fantastic that Kindred will continue to support Lauren through the challenges she and Cooper may face in the future, related to his kidney problems”
Case Study 2
Alex Pang and family
Above: Alex Pang with his family.
Photo credit Malcolm Cochrane
©Malcolm Cochrane Photography for Kindred Advocacy
Alex is a 6-year-old boy, who was born with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He lives with his parents and sister near Edinburgh. Like many children from families Kindred supports, Alex has complex health needs and is often in need of emergency care from his local
children’s hospital. This has a huge impact on family life including having to arrange childcare for his sister at short notice. Kakay, Alex’s mum, had to give up her corporate work to be there for the family. Losing her job and the additional demands of caring for Alex have taken a toll on both her and her husband Kit’s mental health and the family finances.
Kakay and Kit have dipped in and out of Kindred services over the last few years, safe in the knowledge that they could come to us whenever they needed our support.
Recently, Kakay encouraged Kit to access Kindred’s counselling service when he found himself struggling with the emotional and practical pressures involved in caring for a child with complex needs.
Additional health needs also bring additional costs. These can be the smaller yet significant sums involved in buying specialist items such as a buggy or hoist. And, as in the Pangs’ case, the larger financial outlays required to purchase a new house and make the required adaptations to enable Alex to make it his longterm home. Help from organisations experienced in making applications for private or statutory funding can help take pressure off parents as they battle with time-consuming, complex bureaucratic procedures.
Kindred were able to support the family financially with successful grant applications for equipment including a specialist car seat, and another capital grant towards a small driveway. Having a driveway means Alex can be lifted into the family’s specially equipped van straight from the house. This means avoiding having to park the van further away and exposing Alex to inclement weather when transferring to it by buggy.
Kakay also turned to Kindred for advocacy support around Alex’s education, after feeling overwhelmed by a multi-disciplinary meeting to discuss Alex’s school placement, when she felt he was being pushed into mainstream education which would not suit him. After meeting with our advocacy worker Mhari, Kakay felt she had the support and legal knowledge needed to fight for the right choice of education for Alex and subsequently secured a place at a special needs school where his needs could be met.
Quote from Kakay Pang, mum to Alex:
“I felt anxious at Alex’s child planning meetings. Without Kindred’s support I wouldn’t have known Alex’s legal rights and his education would have been delayed.
Kindred have been there by our side, making things happen”.
Quote from Elizabeth Hall, Occupational Therapist, NHS Lothian, who has worked with Alex:
“Kindred provide the most incredible support to families at their most challenging of times. Having an organisation that supports families to do and be the family they are meant to be is transformational.
I feel so fortunate to be able to request Kindred’s support and then witness the incredible impact their work has on the lives of the whole family, the smiles, the joy, the relief and the stories of their adventures.”
Case Study 3
Abhishek Behl talks about the Early Positive Approaches to Support parental training programme
Abhishek and Anya
©Kindred Advocacy / Abhishek Behl
Quote from Abhishek Behl, dad to Anya:
Living with a child that has such complex medical needs, means life can break you physically and mentally. Ways to approach each situation of not knowing how to handle your child’s behaviour, their communication and development can sometimes be impossible and very challenging for parents. I am so grateful to my daughters CAMHS physiologist and Kindred (who have been with us as a family ever since our daughter was diagnosed with an extremely rare neurological condition) to add me to theE-PAtScourse. We’ve learnt so much , including how we can overcome barriers and have improved our understanding of our child’s needs and condition. It’s been a great help to us as a family and to use what we have learnt in the course in our everyday life is amazing”.
Notes to Editors
Please contact Kindred if you have any queries about this release.
Melissa Grenfell, Communications Officer:
melissa.grenfell@kindred-scotland.org Mobile 07742 419 711
Hazel Cornish, Fundraiser:
Hazel.cornish@kindred-scotland.org Mobile 07742419710
Kindred:
Kindred was founded by parents of children with disabilities in 1991 initially as the Special Needs Information Point (or SNIP) at the original Royal Hospital for Sick Children near the Meadows in Edinburgh, and has been supporting parents for over 31 years.
It aims to support parents of children with complex needs, disabilities and longterm conditions through the provision of information, advocacy and emotional support, delivered from its new base at the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Little France, Edinburgh, and from its community bases in Edinburgh and Fife.
Families of children with complex needs and life-limiting conditions often feel isolated, traumatised, and bewildered by the maze of services and benefits that they need to negotiate. The role of our staff is to provide manageable information, listen to the parents’ concerns, and help with practical matters relating to care.
Kindred’s service increases the confidence of parents and reduces the impact of caring on family life.
Kindred’s vision is that all children with complex needs in Scotland will live within happy and healthy family homes. This vision will be achieved by providing specialist advocacy for parents and by campaigning for improved services for families of children with complex needs.
People’s Postcode Lottery:
- People’s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries on behalf of 20 Postcode Trusts. People play with their chosen postcodes for a chance to win cash prizes. A minimum of 33% from each subscription goes directly to charities and good causes in Britain and internationally. Players have raised more than £900 million so far. For details of the charities and good causes which are promoting and benefitting from the lottery draws, please visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk/good-causes/draw-calendar
- It costs £10 a month to play and winning postcodes are announced every day. The maximum amount a single ticket can win is 10% of the draw proceeds. For details, please visit www.postcodelottery.co.uk/prizes
- New players can sign up to pay using direct debit by calling 0808 10 9 8 7 6 5. New players who sign up online at www.postcodelottery.co.uk can pay using direct debit, debit card or PayPal.
- Postcode Lottery Limited is regulated by the Gambling Commission under licence numbers: 000-000829-N-102511 and 000-000829-R-102513. Registered office: 2nd Floor, 31 Chertsey Street, Guildford, Surrey, England, GU1 4HD
- Follow us @PPLComms
