Helping families through the challenges of caring for children with disabilities

Meet The Children’s Respite Trust, which explains all about its work and the positive impact it has on the families it helps.

At the Children’s Respite Trust we provide essential respite care for families facing the extraordinary challenges of caring for children with disabilities.

Beyond providing care, we strive to create a compassionate community where both children and their families find the support they so rightly deserve. We understand that each family’s journey is unique, and so are the needs of their children. This means we tailor our services to meet the specific challenges they face across our different groups: Little Stars, Superstars and All Stars. 

The impact of our care is best measured in the star stories of the families we support like Poppy and her parents. When she was born, Poppy had to undergo multiple surgeries for abnormalities that were not detected through pregnancy.

Facing this shock, her parents were continuously given a bleak outlook from professionals all offering the worst case scenario with little to no advice or guidance. The family were even told that Poppy was ‘not disabled enough for support’ despite having severe learning disabilities and being non-verbal.

When a health visitor directed them towards the Children’s Respite Trust, Mum said: “The focus was suddenly away from Poppy’s diagnosis and changed to what her needs were and how she’d be supported while giving us a break for a few hours.”

Since accessing our services, they have joined a community where they can share their experiences and support each other as well as benefit from respite.

For many families in this situation, mainstream services and events are simply not accessible resulting in feelings of isolation and hopelessness. Parents, children and siblings at CRT all benefit from knowing they are no longer the odd one out and are in fact a very valued member of the Trust.

Our care is vital for so many families and success is measured not in financial gains but in the impact we make. However, to provide the care that we do free of charge, we must continue to fundraise.

Attending events like our upcoming Comedy Night on the 23rd February or our new Summer Soiree on 18th May will make a massive difference to the work we do. Regular giving, community fundraising and challenge events will fund more support workers and our after school service, the Milky Way Club. Both these projects are designed to combat the overwhelming demand for respite care in Sussex and therefore help more families.

The Children’s Respite Trust is more than an organisation; it’s a collective effort fuelled by the passion and commitment of our team, volunteers, and supporters. If you would like to be a part of that please visit our website www.crtcharity.org for more information.