Charity Project Helps Support Parents Of Disabled Children

Leeds-based law firm Irwin Mitchell has donated £1,000 to the KIDS Hull befriending project to enable the charity to continue supporting the parents of disabled children.

The charity, based in Hull, launched the Befriending Project to develop volunteering training programme to enable parents to offer emotional support to other parents facing similar challenges.

The scheme has been running since September 2013 and the demand for its services are increasing and KIDS Hull is hoping to extend the services it provides by enlisting the help of new befrienders, as well as providing further training to increase the number of parents volunteers involved in the programme. 

KIDS has a number of active volunteers in Hull and are hoping to increase this support and also extend to parents living in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell, who help a number of families in Hull whose children have suffered serious injuries and developed disabilities, have donated the funds to ensure the project can continue providing these much-needed services and allowing it to grow.

Sarah Coles, an expert medical negligence lawyer based in Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office, said:

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“The work KIDS do in Hull and East Yorkshire is absolutely amazing and we know from experience just how hard it can be for parents and families when a child is faced with a disability.

“That is why the befriending project is so important for the area and the families who face up to these challenges. The support network provided by KIDS is absolutely crucial and we are delighted to have been able to help the charity in this way.” Sarah Coles - Partner

Claire Crosbie, Senior Regional Fundraiser at KIDS Yorkshire & the Humber, said: “The emotional impact being told your child has a disability can be overwhelming for some parents and many of them use our befriending project as a support network.

“We are hoping to grow the services we provide and increase the number of people we can help. As a charity we rely heavily on donations to be able to provide these services and the donation from Irwin Mitchell will really make a big difference to us.”