We provide grants and loans for disabled children and young people.
We provide grants up to £10,000 and loans for equipment, including wheelchairs, buggies, car seats, and specialist beds disabled children need.
The right equipment enables disabled children to be independent, safe and comfortable. They can feel more involved at home, in the community, and in education.
Our eligibility criteria has changed. Please read the below before starting an application.
NEW eligibility criteria 2026
Beds
We can’t fund:
- Beds for co-sleeping, time out, or safe spaces
- Beds for residential homes, hospices, or hospitals
- Safety sleeper beds
- High sided beds without a medical/postural need
- Non-essential customisations, warranties, insurance, or service packages
Buggies
We can’t fund:
- Buggies for children under five without a medical or postural need
- Buggies for children over eight without a medical or postural need
- Travel, double, or standard high-street buggies
- Weather protection as extras
- Activity trays
Car seats
We can’t fund:
- Car seats for school transport
- Car seats for children under 12 unless there is a medical/postural need or exceptional circumstances where all other options to keep the child safe in transit have been exhausted
- Car seats for children who already have access to a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV)
- Loan car seats
Wheelchairs and power chairs
We can’t fund:
- Children not assessed as safe to use powered wheelchairs or power add on
- Wheelchairs where there is no suitable, level, secure, and dry charging point
- Non-essential customisations, warranties, insurance, or service packages
- Power wheelchairs for children without a medical/postural need
- Loan wheelchairs
General rules (apply to all applications)
We can’t fund:
- Equipment for children over the age of 18 years old (If applying at 18, the child must have been awarded the grant before their 19th Birthday)
- Non UK residents whereby the child has not lived in the UK for at least 6 months
- Equipment already ordered before funding approval
- Equipment used for restraint, or used outside the limits set by the manufacturer or safety guidelines
- Applications where funding has been provided within the past 12 months
- Grants for elective or planned hospital admissions
- Equipment for one-off or occasional use only
- Equipment not supported by a recognised professional
- Professionals who you have nominated to support that are not actively involved in the child’s care
- Equipment applications not approved by your supporting professional
- Requests not involving appropriate professional involvement
- Requests where statutory services have not been contacted (except in specific car seat cases)
- Equipment outside our approved suppliers
- Moulded or bespoke/custom-made equipment
- Adaptations to existing equipment
- Duplicate provision
- Equipment not supported by a recognised professional
Equipment grants
You can apply for an equipment grant if your child has medical and postural needs, or environmental needs.
Here’s what we fund:
- Medical/postural needs: We can provide grants for equipment your child needs because of their physical disability or health condition. This can include beds, buggies, car seats and wheelchairs. The equipment should help your child with their medical or physical needs at home or in the community .
- Environmental needs: We can provide grants for equipment to support your child’s learning disability, autism or sensory needs. This can include beds, car seats, buggies and manual wheelchairs. The equipment should support your child’s needs at home or when they are out in the community.
Equipment loans
Emergency Equipment Loans are for children who need immediate support after a sudden change in their condition.
Equipment loans ensure children can be safe, comfortable and supported at home.
We can provide a child with a buggy or a bed that they need for up to six months.
Before you apply
Before you start your application, please make sure you have:
- Read our eligibility criteria and FAQs to check if your child is eligible.
- Your child’s NHS Number ready (Find your NHS number – NHS).
- Spoken to your nominated professional to let them know you are applying. Please note: The professional nominated must be actively involved in the child’s care
Information about the professionals who can support an application can be found in our FAQs.
We will send your nominated professional an email asking them to support your child’s application, so please make sure they are expecting this.
Having this information ready will make it easier to complete your application.
Applying for a grant/loan
START YOUR EQUIPMENT APPLICATION TODAYWhat happens after you apply?
After you submit your application, your nominated professional will need to complete Part B of the form. Once Part B has been completed, we will review your application.
If your application meets our eligibility criteria, one of our preferred suppliers will arrange an assessment for your child. During the assessment, they will discuss your child’s needs and the equipment that may be suitable.
Once the assessment has been completed, your application will be considered for funding. We will look at all funding options that may be available to support your child’s equipment needs.
Funding decisions can take up to three months. We receive a high number of applications, and funding cannot be guaranteed.
You can check the progress of your application at any time using the Application Portal. The link to the portal can be found in the emails you have received from Newlife.
To ensure all families receive the same information and updates, we are unable to provide application status updates over the phone. We kindly ask families to use the portal for the latest information about their application.
Frequently asked questions
You can find details of how we assess applications in the FAQs below.
