photo of a disabled child with a family member

Contact a Family Helpline 0808 808 3555

Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm & Monday, 5.30-7.30pm

Textphone 0808 808 3556

e-mail the Helpline

Not sure what benefits or tax credits to claim? A Contact a Family worker with a child

Need advice about assessments and statements of special educational needs for your child?

Looking to make contact with other parents caring for a child with a rare disorder?

Want to know where your local parents support group is?

Trying to find information about your child's condition?

Want to know what your rights are when seeking help from social services?

Looking for details of charities which give grants to families with disabled children?

Seen anything on this website you need more advice on?

Want to join a local Contact a Family project or office?

Need advice about financial help to adapt your home?

Want to order one of our many free factsheets for families?

Just want someone to talk to?

Photo of a mum on the phone Ring the Contact a Family freephone helpline for advice and information on these issues and any other aspect of caring for a disabled child.

The helpline has access to interpreters in over 100 languages via Language Line. Also, two of our advisers are registered to give basic advice on immigration issues.

Contact a Family is the only UK charity providing support and advice to parents whatever the medical condition or disability of their child. Our helpline is a 'one-stop shop' for parents and families whenever they need answers. Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ are available on this website.

A lot of the support we give to families is done over the telephone. Because we cover all disabilities, including the rarest conditions, every call is unique and some require intensive research to answer.

Thanks to funding from the Department for Education and Skills, since 2001 we have been running a freephone national Helpline for parents and professionals. Our team of specially trained Parent Advisers can give information and advice on a wide range of general and specialist enquiries, or just provide a listening ear.

Following additional training, we are now able to provide advice on specialist areas such as tax credits and immigration issues. Thanks to funding from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, we can now refer families to an Independent Financial Adviser for advice on Child Trust Funds.

Our staff teams in 14 offices across the UK also respond to enquiries from parents and professionals on a wide range of issues.

'I phoned the number [the Contact a Family staff] gave me about getting soya milk tokens. Now we get it all on prescription - now he's got the soya milk, he's happier - he's 100 times better, different kid now.'
Parent, whose child's disability was made worse by an allergy to cow's milk. Contact a Family Helpline evaluation report.

'I was very pleased with the adviser I spoke to. I couldn't have got it straightened out without his help. I can't thank you enough.'
Parent

"Most people just switch off because they haven't heard of my daughter's condition - it was a relief to speak to someone who gave me the time of day"
Parent

"I am now in contact with the local group of mothers you told me about and it has been wonderful"
Parent

"The first charity we tried from your list sent my social worker a cheque which means we can buy a trike for my son"
Parent

"The information I got was that I was entitled to more than I realised - it led to us getting more help."
Parent

Contacting the helpline

To send an e-mail to the Contact a Family helpline, please fill in this form and then click "Submit Enquiry".

Please note that this enquiry will be treated in the strictest confidence. Contact a Family are registered under the Data Protection Act and will never divulge your details to any other party.

E-mail address (we need this to reply to you - we will never pass it to anyone else)
Are you enquiring on behalf of a child or an adult?	Child Adult
Child's Date of Birth (dd-mm-yyyy )
Full name of the disability/condition the person has ( if you know it )
Where do you live?
If outside UK, please enter your Country.
Optional Your name address and phone number will help us to answer your enquiry fully and send you more information.	Address
Please type your enquiry here.
Please subscribe me to the monthly Contact a Family E-newsletter:

Your story could help us . . .

If you have a disabled child, you could help us enormously by volunteering to talk to the media about your life, and the day to day issues that you face. This helps us show what families in your situation need, to push for change and to campaign to improve services for families and children.

If you would like to volunteer, please visit our Be In The Media page and complete our media panel form.

The Contact a Family Helpline has been cerified as meeting the Requirements of the Community Legal Service Quality Mark Standard for General Help.

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We are Telephone Helpline Members (THA) and we have met the membership criteria for good practice on telephone helplines.

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This Web Site © Copyright, Contact a Family 2007.
Although great care has been taken in the compilation and preparation of this work to ensure accuracy, Contact a Family cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Any medical information is provided for education/information purposes. It should be noted that most information written about specific disorders includes the most severe scenario. Many individual cases may not display all the features mentioned and the degree of severity of the features that are displayed may vary a great deal between individual cases. You should obtain further information from your medical practitioner. Any links to external websites have been carefully selected but are provided without any endorsement of the content of those sites. Please refer to our detailed Legal page for more information.
Contact a Family, 209-211 City Road, London EC1V 1JN Tel: (020) 7608 8700.
Registered Charity No. 284912. Company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales No. 1633333.
HM Revenue & Customs charity tax reference No. XN54769. VAT Reg. No. GB 749 3846 82.