Campaigns

Kindred campaigns on behalf of parents of children with complex needs.

Some of our campaigns are in collaboration with other organisations such as The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC).

With the SCSC we have been campaigning to reduce waiting times for CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services), and are also supporting a campaign to reinstate a bursary for trainee educational psychologists.

We have been working with Scottish Government NHS Scotland National Services Division and the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland to campaign for secure inpatient care for children and young people with learning disability.

Kindred is also campaigning for more special school provision across Scotland.

Families from Kindred have also met with Tam Baillie, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, to discuss complex care packages. The first meeting was in November 2014 and we will continue to campaign for these families over the foreseeable future.

Below are some of the media articles reflecting some of our campaigning work.

More media articles and information can also be found on the SCSC website.

Special Needs Schooling Campaign- Families of Children with Complex Needs

Recently, Kindreds director Sophie Pilgrim has been working to promote full time places for children in special schools to get back to classes. Sophie has taken to the airways to champion the rights of families whose children have been unable to attend their places of education for the last year and campaigned tirelessly with the Scottish Government and educational leaders. Sophie talked to parents and carers and other organisations across Scotland to highlight the importance of a return to school and vaccines for school staff.

Getting back to school also gives families respite from in many cases 24/7 care of their family member. You can read more about this in the article below, Covid-19 and Families of Children with Complex Needs.

You can read more on the BBC website about how the timeline of the return to school story unfolded here

Covid-19 and Families of Children with Complex Needs

During the pandemic, Kindred has been working with families to be their voice and has produced a report, Covid 19 and the Families of Children with Complex Needs, which is a response to the Scottish Government, outlining the devastating impact on families of children with high level medical needs, particularly with loss of support from schools. Many of our parents have been struggling with 5 hours of broken sleep a night

110 families provided with advocacy support by Kindred since 1 April 2020. Information from this work is used to design the survey and telephone interview.
42 parents complete the online survey.
16 parents who took part in the online survey are followed up with a semi-structured telephone interview lasting around 30 minutes.

Summary

Even in this small survey respondents spoke of a wide range of experiences directly related to the pandemic in addition to caring for a child with very high level medical needs. Some had struggled with their own medical treatment while others have lost relatives to Covid-19 and to other conditions. They had experienced difficulties with basic needs such as shopping and getting medications…

“We spent so long counting down until this was all over. Really hard because goal posts kept moving. We had to change our mindset to living like this”. Parent

Did you know:

Top 10 things which families said helped them through Covid

1. Working together with Family
2. Having a garden
3. Friends and carers
4. Carers coming to the home
5. Support from School
6. Help with shopping
7. Healthcare professionals
8. Help to collect prescriptions
9. Social Media
10. Social work

If you would like to share your own story, contact us via our

Tell us your story form.

If you have campaign ideas, why don't you contact us and start a conversation or head over to our social media to hear our latest news.

Latest

Kindred Wellbeing Week

As announced at our recent AGM, the director and trustees of Kindred regard staff wellbeing as a priority and have awarded an additional week of annual leave to ensure that staff have the opportunity to look after themselves.
Kindred 2021 AGM and Looking Ahead

Kindred's 30th AGM 2021 will be online and everyone is welcome. Join us to find out more about our achievements in the last year supporting families, and a look to what the future might hold.
Kindred AGM 2021 papers

Kindred's AGM will be on the 27th October 2021. Supporting documentation is now available on this page.
Webinar: Child Poverty & Households with a Disabled Member in Scotland

Monday 27th September 2021, a free webinar aimed at those addressing poverty and inequality. The link between having a member of a household with a disability, and child poverty has long been known. With expert speakers including Kindred Director Sophie Pilgrim on engaging with families of those with a disability.

Social Work Assessment (Section 23)

If your child has a disability or long-term health condition then you are likely to require additional help with family life. The Social Work department of your local authority has a duty to assess the needs of your child. This is called a Section 23 Assessment.
Benefits

There are many different sources of financial support available to children with disabilities. Kindred may be able to support parents to apply for some of these benefits.
Our vision and aims

Kindred's vision is to transform the lives of families of children with complex needs in Scotland.
Contact us

You can contact Kindred by phone, email and by post.
Education

Children with additional needs may need extra support in school, or you may feel that your child needs to attend a different school provision such as a language unit, another mainstream school or a special school. Depending on where you live, Kindred may be able to assist you with finding the right provision for your child.
Fife Team

Kindred's Fife Team is based in Dunfermline, providing a service throughout Fife to parents of children with complex needs including advocacy, information and emotional support.
Accessing grants

Details of different funds and grant-giving trusts/charities that you can approach if needed, and some handy hints on applying.
Our history

Kindred began supporting families in 1991 from the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh. We were known then as SNIP or Special Needs Information Point. We started with a founding team of two parents who each had a child with additional needs, keen to share their knowledge. Now we have a team of 13 staff over three bases in Scotland, and we are still a parent-led organisation.
Refer to us

For a referral please contact us by phone or email.
Community Team

Kindred's Community Team is based at our Head Office in the West End of Edinburgh. It works with approximately 200 families a year providing information, advocacy and emotional support to parents of children with complex needs.