Will you fund maintenance costs or insurance costs for equipment you provide?
We receive no government or lottery funding. This means all our income is self generated and therefore fluctuates from year to year. For this reason we regrettably find we cannot take on the ongoing/long-term maintenance or insurance costs of equipment we fund.

I/we would like……?
All applications are made on the specific needs of the child and family. This means for instance that we may buy a special buggy which comes in navy. If the family requested red fabric and there is an extra cost we would not fund that extra cost. Likewise we do not fund specific requests on the basis of ‘likes’ or ‘prefers’. The application must genuinely fit the need of the child or family.

Will you fund adaptations to vehicles?
We would fund a removable car seat etc. which fits the specialist needs of a child. However, we would not fund adaptations to the body or facilities of the vehicle. The Motobility Service funds vehicles, where the correct benefit is claimed and such adaptations are included. This is a statutory provision and therefore we would be not be using donors gifts wisely if we were to fund such work.

Do you fund replacement clothing or bedding?
Yes, if the damage or excessive wear and tear is due to the child’s condition.

Do you consider applications where the child has Autism or Cerebral Palsy?
Yes, as long as we have a letter from a Health Professional stating that either the condition is inborn or, to the best of their knowledge, was not related to birth trauma, infection or other conditions. We define a Birth Defect as a condition, genetic or otherwise, which was present in utero.

Do you fund wheelchairs?
This is very dependent on the circumstances. We have funded wheelchairs (including powered), in full and part. Due to the high cost of these, we need to be satisfied that there is no other alternative and the need is acutely relevant to the individual child or family circumstances.

We have raised some funds but we are short of the remaining cost to get the item. Can you help?
Yes as long as the needs of the child or carers fulfil our criteria and policies, we do sometimes part fund. This is usually to make the purchase possible (providing final funding) once other funds have been raised/pledged.

Will you fund sheds, storage and fencing?
We do fund sheds/garden storage for things like physiotherapy equipment and incontinence provision storage which is related to the child’s condition. However, we will not fund a shed as a playroom or similar. 

Our child needs a new bed, will you help?
We will replace an existing normal bed if the child’s condition has caused damage or excess use etc. but not if the bed is just old or tired. We do fund specialist beds which directly aid the child or main carer.

Will you fund surgery or treatment/activities overseas?
We have in the past part funded UK based surgery but the circumstances were very specific. We no longer find it operationally possible to fund surgery/treatment in the UK or elsewhere.

Why do you state that you fund provision up to age 18 years?
Our trust constitution legally states for us to help ‘children’ specifically. We do include the 18th year.

Will you fund structural home adaptations?
We cannot fund such work due to complications regarding the ownership of the property, permission from Housing Associations, Council ownership and Mortgage Company agreement etc. These can be major obstacles. In the main such adaptations are funded by Social Services so we would be duplicating statutory provision. As we work nationally we are also unable to supervise work and therefore we could not guarantee the safety of such work or the liability during activities.

Will you fund travel costs? (i.e. my child has frequent hospital appointments, will you help with the travel costs?)
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide funding towards travel costs or expenses. Our Nurse Service has a list of possible organisations that may be able to help, in a specific area. The BDF Newlife Nurse Service number is on the front page of this document.

Do you provide funding for specialist height adjustable baths?
No, this type of equipment falls into the structural adaptations. We consider most baths are a permanent adaptation to the property, requiring specialist fitting and fixtures.

My Grant has been approved. How long will it take to receive the items?
There is a process the grants have to go through. Firstly you will receive two offer letters outlining the conditions of the grant. One of these must be signed and returned before the order can be placed, the other is for your reference. It may take up to one week for the order to be placed and delivery will depend on the company. Company delivery times differ from next day to 14 days to 4-6 weeks, we will advice you of delivery times.

Do you fund Trikes?
We recognise two types of equipment referred to as trikes.

• Type 1 trike - Therapeutic / Social inclusion aid - we are unfortunately unable to fund. While these are useful aids the demand is so high we simply cannot continue to fund these items.
• Type 2 trike - Primary function mobility aid (conversion of a wheelchair to 3 wheeler) - we will consider funding these. We have re-named these trikes as Adapted Tri-chairs, please use this term when applying.

What do I have to do about supplying the letter from a professional confirming certain points?

If you are a parent applying, you must ensure that you include with your application a letter from a professional. The letter must address all of the points, which require a tick, as shown on the lower part of the application form. It would be useful to them if you could write down a list of these points for the professional when asking for their support. If a professional cannot answer a certain question it may be that you need to submit more than one letter, by approaching other professionals, to ensure all points are covered.

You should then read their letter and ensure that the letter/s covers all the detailed points required. If points have not been covered ask the professional to address this point again. Do not send in an application unless all points have been addressed by the professional/s supporting your application.

If you are a professional applying on behalf of a family, you must still send a separate letter covering all of the points and tick all the boxes.

Important - Failure to supply a letter from a professional/s which cover all the required points may cause an application to fail unnecessarily or cause undue delay in approval.

Funds Available
All the funds used to provide grants have to be created/raised by the Charity. We have a month by month budget to spend, so sometimes non urgent grants which arrive late in the month are held over to the new month for funding.

Do you know someone
We get no government or lottery funding so do you know someone who could help us raise funds, a friend, work colleagues, relatives, club, pub, school, company? If so please tell them about BDF and ask them to help us help more children.

If you have any further questions contact:

Nurse Service
Telephone: 08700 707020