With cuts to benefits and services, many families of seriously ill and disabled children are struggling to cope, even though help is available, because they just don’t know it’s there.

A survey by new disabled children’s charity Sky Badger shows that:

• only 9 per cent of families are told about disability support within four weeks of diagnosis
• a shocking 34 per cent are never told about the help available to them at all
• 78 per cent of families in the UK with disabled children or children with terminal conditions are kept in the dark for a year or more about what support is available to them.

Sky Badger will help parents get respite care, so they can have a night of unbroken sleep or just a couple of hours’ break; it will help them find out about "make a wish" charities, funders who will help them pay for mobility equipment, specialist insurance and counselling services.
 
But Sky Badger will do even more than that. It will show families where they can take their disabled child ice-skating, or rock climbing or on safari. Sky Badger exists to show disabled kids that great adventures are possible.
 
Sky Badger patrons include Professor Stephen Hawking, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger and Gerald Scarfe.