Parent carers fight back

2 mins read

Wednesday 13 December 2023

In this article, Maria, parent carer and engagement lead in our campaign team, reflects on a year of parent carer campaigners fighting for change.

I know that this time of year can be joyful, but it can also be hard.

Our social media feeds and TV screens are full of festive cheer, in ways that rarely reflect real life. At times like this, families often tell us that they feel forgotten.

I want you to know that Contact sees you and how hard you work, all year round, to fight and provide for your child.

We see and hear you

I’ve been working in Contact’s campaigns team for just over a year now. Alongside my colleagues, Amanda, Elaine, Imogen and Una, we are here to make sure that everyone else sees and hears your family too.

This year we’ve been supporting parent-led campaigns to unlock Child Trust Funds and stop disabled children from missing out on their free school meals. This week, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson added her backing to the campaign.

We’ve been meeting with ministers and senior decision makers, highlighting the issues that you are facing in the media and speaking with many of you to ensure that we are focussing on the issues that matter to you.

Hitting back

We’ve heard a lot this year about local authorities struggling with severely reduced budgets. This has led to some senior politicians and council leaders blaming parents with disabled children for their financial difficulties.

Thankfully, there are quite a few journalists with lived experience of childhood disability, and two of them – Jessie Hewitson and Sam Carlisle – had articles published this week hitting back.

We’ll be doing even more of all this in 2024. So please do keep talking to us and supporting our campaign work. Together we are stronger.

Sending you our best wishes for the festive season and thank you for supporting us.

Maria