Harry’s Pledge encourages the social housing sector to improve support for families with disabled children
A new all party parliamentary group (APPG) to support parents with chronically ill children has been set up following a campaign led by Amplius’ chief executive.
Inspired by Harry’s Pledge – an initiative set up by Julie Doyle and named after her disabled grandson – the group’s aim is to provide access to emotional support to parents of children with a severe life-limiting condition.
More than 100 organisations in the social housing sector, including the National Federation of Housing and the Chartered Institute of Housing, have taken Harry’s pledge to provide support for parent carers through employment policies, accessible home delivery and signposting counselling and respite services.
Matt Bishop, Labour MP for Forest Dean, has been elected to chair the “all party parliamentary group on emotional support for parent carers of seriously ill and disabled children.”
Shockat Adam, Independent MP for Leicester South will serve as vice-chair, while Sue Gray, Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff and Stuart Andrew, Conservative MP for Daventry are officers of the APPG. Alison Bennett, Liberal Democrat MP for Mid Sussex will also be a member of the group.
The APPG’s secretariat will be the Harry’s Pals charity, founded by Doyle’s daughter Hayley Charlesworth. She said: “From personal experience and the experiences of the parents we support at Harry’s Pals, we know just how devastating this life-changing news can be. A study by Doctor Siobhan O’Dwyer of Birmingham University shows how deeply this affects parent careers with 41% of them admitting to thinking about suicide.
“By providing earlier interventions, we can support parents, and their children while also reducing the longer-term impact on the NHS and social services.”
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