Our advice is life-changing – can you help support it?

3 mins read

Thursday 18 December 2025

My name is Derek, and for many years I’ve been advising parents who get in touch with our helpline. Parents with disabled children often contact us when they feel most vulnerable.

The trust and confidence they place in us is humbling. The expert advice we give can be life-changing.

Right now, we are hearing from more and more families feeling exhausted, isolated and worried about their children’s future. We can feel their emotional burdens over the phone. But our team is here to listen and provide practical advice to help you find a way through.

I know Christmas is a busy time and you’re likely to be rushed off your feet. But I have one small request – could you donate just £10 to Contact and in return we’ll send you something special? Your gift could help us answer more calls for families who need us.

Transforming family finances

Our team’s expert advice and guidance can transform a family’s financial situation, like we did for Sonia*.

Sonia phoned us because she was really struggling with her heating bills and rent costs. She is a lone parent who juggles part-time work while caring for her severely disabled son and two other children.

We chatted and found out how hard it was keeping up with bills while having to take so much unpaid time off to look after her son. Through our benefits check, we discovered something life-changing:

“I had no idea that I was missing out on a carer element. Your advice not only helped me get an extra £200 in Universal Credit each month, but I also got a lump sum payment of £3,400 to cover what I’d missed out on.

“This will make such a difference to my family. It’s amazing. For once I won’t need to worry about how I’ll be able to afford all the things my disabled son needs.”

Help another mum or dad get our support

It’s these kinds of calls that motivate me every day to speak to as many parent carers as possible. If you can, will you donate £10 so another mum or dad can get our support to afford essentials for their disabled children this winter?

To show our thanks, our supporter care team will post you four special stickers for every gift of £10 or more so you can display your support for families with disabled children wherever you go this winter.

Very best wishes,
Derek
Senior Parent Adviser at Contact

*Sonia’s story is real, but her name has been changed to protect her family’s confidentiality.