When your child is in a wheelchair, your home becomes a difficult world to navigate. As a parent you want to create a safe haven where they're differences aren't highlighted. We're trying to receive support in a number of ways to build a fully accessible home for our son, Joshua. One that he can live as independently as possible.
If we visit relatives then most of the time he wouldn't be able to even get down the garden path or through the front door so having a home where others can visit him is crucial for his social and mental well being.
One option is to access the DFG through the local council. However, the maximum grant awarded is £30,000 and this hasn't changed since 2006!
According to the Office for National Statistics, today's prices in 2020 are 45.65% higher than average prices since 2006. In other words, £30,000 in 2006 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £43,694.56 in 2020, a difference of £13,694.56 over 14 years.

You may think that £30,000 is a generous amount for an extension of a bedroom, bathroom and living space but have you ever considered the cost of disabled or accessible equipment? The luxury of being able to have a bath will dent the budget by around £8,000 and that doesn't include fitting or ongoing maintenance. A self care toilet is around £400 and a height adjustable basin will set you back a few hundred more. So that's at least a third of your budget gone without a blink of an eye and not a brick in sight.

So you can understand how frustrated and heartbreaking people feel when the reality is that you have to find money to help through fundraising as the DFG grant won't be anywhere near enough.

We think it's time this was addressed by Micheal Gove the Secretary of State for housing, Communities and Local Government