give it back
Gogglebox’s Steph and Dom support The Sun’s Give It Back campaign asking Government to return £434m swiped from disabled kids
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GOGGLEBOX stars Steph and Dom have vowed to support The Sun's Give It Back campaign after the Government cut £434million funding for disabled kids.
The telly favourites confirmed they'll that demands funds be reinstated so Britain's most vulnerable children and their parents get the help they desperately need.
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Coffers are running dry for services such as respite care and vital equipment and parents find themselves tangled in red tape when applying for much-needed cash.
The Sun's Give It Back campaign has demanded the money be reinstated after the number of disabled kids in the UK rose to nearly 1 million over the past 10 years - up by a third.
Steph and Dom, who care for their disabled son Max, have vowed to join the fight and told Talk Radio today: "I will do now, I'll sign it immediately.
"There are too many families being torn apart and relationships breaking because they can't handle the pressure."
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The couple spoke to former Sun editor Sam Carlisle about caring for disabled daughter Elvi, 17, with the rare genetic condition RCDP
She told the Talk Radio hosts today: "I've had to give up my job and long term it makes sense for the government to give this money now.
"It's like a full time job, filling in the paper work, fighting for those things that are meant to be in place for your child. Siblings, they are effected as their parents are so busy fighting the system.
"We're asking anyone to sign this letter, and we're trying to get as many people as possible to sign that, so the government recognises that people of all walks of life support this.
"If we can't support our vulnerable children what kind of society are we?"
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Steph and Dom previously opened up about the struggles they face caring for Max.
The reality star couple's son Max suffers from severe epilepsy and autism and can have over 100 seizures a day.
Max has a Vagus Nerve Stimulation implant to help control the seizures and takes a cocktail of strong drugs every day. He is also autistic, with the mental age of a six year old.
Steph and Dom have been turned into stars by the Channel 4 show and had chosen to keep their son's suffering out of the spotlight.
WHY 'GIVE IT BACK' NEEDS YOUR HELP
- My son can’t walk or talk and can stop breathing at any time of the day or night – please give us the support we deserve to care for him
- I pray my son will live through each night and worry what will happen to him if I die – we desperately need more funding
- Parents of disabled children battling suicidal thoughts due to lack of funding and fear they can’t care for their kids safely
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But when they are not filming for Gogglebox, they are always researching ways to improve Max's quality of life.
Steph said: "That is what you do if you are the parent of a chronically ill child.
"You are not online at midnight shopping on Zara, you are online at midnight doing this kind of thing."
They recently took part in documentary In Can Cannabis Save Our Son? exploring the use of medicinal cannabis to help ease Max's symptoms.
Is your family affected by the cuts to funding? Tell us your story. Email: [email protected]
Families with some of the most vulnerable children in the country are disintegrating because the support they desperately need isn’t there.
This needs to stop, and it’s why we’ve teamed up with the Disabled Children’s Partnership, an umbrella organisation made up of 60 leading disability charities in the UK, to help.
We are asking:
- The Government to give back £434 million of funding which has been cut
- The Sun readers to put pressure on the Government to Give It Back
Together, we can make a real difference and vastly improve life for the disabled children in the UK.
"Families with disabled children up and down the country are feeling unable to care for their child safely because they are so exhausted and frustrated at being let down by a system that is meant to take care of them," says Amanda Batten, Chair of the Disabled Children’s Partnership.
"It doesn’t need to be like this.
"That’s why as a group of 60 leading charities working with disabled children and their families we are calling on the government to give back £434 million that is owed to disabled children’s in support and services.
"And we are thrilled to have the backing of the Sun for our Give It Back campaign."
Support for families with disabled kids has been cut - it's time to Give It Back
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