Family Fund supports families living across the UK who are who are raising a disabled or seriously ill child or young person up to the age of 17. Our support is focused on those on low incomes with a child/children who have a high level of additional support needs.

At Family Fund, we believe that all families raising disabled or seriously ill children and young people should have the same choices, quality of life, opportunities and aspirations as other families.

Children Today helps provide specialised equipment for children and young people with disabilities throughout the UK. The aim is to ensure that every disabled child and young person fulfils their potential and leads an active childhood.

We believe the provision of specialised equipment has a direct and immediate impact on a child’s quality of life and independence, and is vital in helping them to overcome obstacles and achieve their potential. Equipment can include wheelchairs, walking frames, tricycles and other mobility aids along with multi-sensory equipment.

The Access Fund is a grant to help disabled children and young people to participate in activities in their local community.  This can be any daytime, evening or weekend activity that the child or young person enjoys whilst their parent/carer has a break from caring.   The Access Fund seeks to support children and young people to take part in inclusive activities alongside their non- disabled peers.

Max Card is issued by North East Local Authority specialist teams to children in care, and children and young people with additional needs.

Max Card offers these children and their families or carers free or discounted entry into many museums, galleries and heritage attractions across the North East.

Just show your Max Card at the entrance and you will get in for free or at the Max Card discounted rate – see the venues page for a full list of venues offering discounts.

Residents of Karbon Housing can get specialist advice on welfare benefits, money advice, home energy or help finding work or training. Whether one off advice or the help of a dedicated caseworker is needed, Karbon’s dedicated team of expert advisers can help.

To self refer, you can email moneymatters@karbonhomes.co.uk, fill in a quick online form https://www.karbonhomes.co.uk/customer-area/my-money or phone 0808 164 0111 

Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity exists to grant the wishes of children who are living with serious or life-threatening illnesses between the ages of 3-18 who live in the United Kingdom.

Our dedicated wish team responds to all wish applications within two weeks. We do not operate a waiting list, but give every wish our immediate attention.

With your help they and their families can experience the joy and excitement of doing something they've only ever dreamt of before.

Help us turn wishes into happy memories.

Disability North is a registered charity (no. 514733) promoting inclusion, independence and choice for disabled people and their families by providing information, advice and support on any aspect of disability. Services are also provided for students or professionals working in the statutory, voluntary and the public sector.

Molehill Mountain is an app to help autistic people understand and self-manage anxiety.

You can use Molehill Mountain to explore the causes and symptoms of anxiety.

• Track your worries and the situations that trigger anxiety.

• Get evidence-based daily tips to understand more about anxiety.

• Feel more confident to self-manage anxiety.

It was developed by Autistica and King's College London.  Adults with autism were consulted throughout the development of the app.

Help and Connect is a service offered by Skills for People.

If you live in Newcastle upon Tyne and are aged 16 or over, our Help and Connect team can help you to get your support right and to make the most of what’s going on in your area.

What does Help and Connect offer?

Our team will help you make the most of the information we have. You can find out about:

For over 35 years we've led the way in providing specialist care, education and services for children, young people and adults with autism, across the North-east of England.

Recognised for our innovation and excellence, everything we do stems from an unswerving belief in providing bespoke person-centered support. It’s at the heart of who we are to recognise the uniqueness of every human being, and to understand that as a spectrum condition no two people with autism will have the same needs or wants.

This is a FREE service for parents/carers of children going through the diagnostic process or with a diagnosis of autism.

These groups give support, advice and information on services available to families. Trained autism practitioners will run sessions that aim to:

Autism North East is a Social Enterprise, non-profit-making organisation providing assessment, diagnosis and intervention for children, young people and adults where this is a concern related to an Autism Spectrum Condition. 

Inclusion North promotes the inclusion of people with learning disabilities, their families and carers.

The world is a better place when people with learning disabilities are included in everything.

We try to make this happen by:

The Toby Henderson Trust (TTHT) is an independently funded charity supporting autistic children, their families and carers.  After 15 years at Whitehouse Farm the trust has recently moved to Toby House, Earth Balance, Bedlington, Northumberland.

We are the one and only charity in the North East focused on life changing early intervention with autistic children (aged 2 to 7). Our service users tell us early intervention can transform the life of a child…

We work in partnership with people with a learning disability, and all our services support people to live life as they choose.

Our work includes:

Based in Stockton, Sunderland and Newcastle, the College provides day and residential education for young people between the ages of 16 and 25 years with an autism spectrum condition (ASC). Students come from across the country to access this specialist provision that enables them to achieve their personal ambitions.

The majority of our students have additional and complex needs including learning disabilities, ADHD, mental health conditions, behaviours that challenge and sensory issues.

Education and Services for People with Autism Limited is a Registered Charity with over 24 years’ experience of supporting people on the autism spectrum.

ESPA’s services include:

St Cuthberts Care is a leading North East charity providing specialised services for some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. Our work is often focused on providing services which fill the gaps left by other providers who find our areas of work unattractive or too high risk. We focus largely on:

Cafe Beam at Ouseburn Farm provides a fabulous environment for young people with disabilities and learning difficulties to gain hands on work experience and learn new skills and develop confidence.

We are looking for regular volunteers to provide practical support for our youngsters usually for one morning or one afternoon on a weekly basis.  This role is extremely rewarding and varied and you will acquire a real insight into the operational side of our organisation as well as gaining valuable experience in working with people with special needs. 

We provide supported work placements to people who have learning difficulties, mental health problems, or both. We aim to empower people with the skills and experience that only real working environments can give:

• team working

• social interaction

• access to training opportunities

Our voluntary placements help to increase self confidence in the work place and beyond, improve self esteem and reduce social isolation.

The Newcastle Community Team for Learning Disabilities is based at Benton House in Newcastle.

The Adult team provides specialist assessment and treatment to people aged 18 years and over with a learning disability and additional health needs, where the person’s needs are complex and require an integrated approach to care and treatment that cannot be met through mainstream services.

The Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorders Service (CNDS) is a specialist second opinion Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) service for children and young people.  We provide diagnostic assessments where there is uncertainty around diagnosis.  In addition we also provide consultation and management advice to local services concerning children and young people who already have an existing ASD diagnosis.

Outreach clinic to provide people with a learning disability who have offended or show offending type behaviour(s), and those involved in caring for them the opportunity to seek advice and support on managing day to day forensic issues.

Areas covered: Cumbria, Sunderland and Newcastle

How to get referred:

Referrals must be made through local community nursing teams for each locality.

We provide a range of specialist services for both adults and children with autism and or learning disabilities or both. We work closely with other Trusts, Local Authorities and voluntary sector organisations.