Grants
Welfare grants
This year we have had to reconsider our allocation of funds to welfare grants, in order to allow us to keep up our funding of vital research. We will still however be offering limited funding to help with purchasing wheelchairs and computers.
To apply to Ataxia UK for help with purchasing a wheelchair or a computer you must have exhausted all other possible funding sources and be referred by our advocacy service.
In the first instance you must contact the Helpline on 0845 644 0606 or email helpline@ataxia.org.uk, who will advise and signpost you to alternative funding resources and grant-giving organisations to which you can apply. If your applications to these other organisations are unsuccessful please call our helpline again: they will refer you to our Advocacy service who will source other funding avenues for you and if necessary help you to apply to them. The Advocacy service will require to see the decision letters from other organisations to which you have applied and been unsuccessful.
Our Advocacy service will only apply to our welfare grants scheme once proof has been received that all other avenues have been exhausted and they have confirmed you meet our eligibility criteria. The Advocacy service will apply to our welfare grants committee on your behalf during October and November only of each year. They will have to prove that you have exhausted all other avenues of funding and they will ask you for proof of income. The Advocacy service will inform you if you have been successful or not.
Decisions are made in December of each year.
Computers - funding and assessment for these are done on a one to one basis by an authorised fundraiser and are subject to enough funds being raised. If successful for a computer your needs will be assessed via a visit to your home; you will be informed when and by whom.
Information for applicants - download here
The Jerry Farr Travel Fellowship
The Jerry Farr Travel Fellowship was set up in 2008 and made possible by the generosity of friends and family of Jerry Farr, who passed away in August 2007. Jerry was diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia at the age of nine, but that didn’t stop him enjoying an action-packed life. He travelled all over the world, taking in the sights of places such as Paris, the Philippines, Australia, China, Morocco, Norway, Sri Lanka and Florida. According to his brother, Jerry remained “determined, positive, focused, energetic, loving and fun” throughout his life. This memorial fellowship is a way for Jerry’s spirit of adventure and love of travel to live on through the experiences of others.
The Jerry Farr Travel Fellowship opens for applications in January each year.
