Demand surge forces charity to suspend some help

A long-standing disability charity has made the "difficult decision" to suspend one of its services as it tries to keep up with demand.

Disability Huntingdonshire (DISH) has temporarily stopped helping parents fill in claims forms for Disability Living Allowance - a benefit that helps children under 16.

Chief executive officer Tracy Hyland said the self-funding charity supported almost 600 people last year, but it was on schedule to help more than 1,000 this year through its range of services.

She put the surge in demand down to factors including the Covid pandemic, followed by the cost of living crisis and "a lack of access to health services for people with mental or physical health".

"It's really important for them to be able to access preventative care and the longer it is left, the more stress it puts on them and the people who support them," she said.

DISH has been running since 1991, providing benefits advice, guidance and support for disabled people and their carers in Huntingdonshire, South Cambridgeshire, Fenland and Cambridge.

Ms Hyland said her "amazing staff" worked part-time and in recent months had struggled to cope with demand, which had "risen exponentially".

"So some difficult decisions have had to be made and unfortunately suspension of one element of the service was something we didn't want to do, but we've got to protect my staff and resources going forward," she said.

"And it just never stops. Since 2022 we have been inundated week-in, week out. We used to have quieter periods like August, but that's not been the case."

The charity is entirely funded by grants and donations and offers its support free to its clients.

Benefit applications could take staff between 20 and 30 hours to complete.

The charity's costs, including insurance and rent, have also gone up.

Ms Hyland said: "We had to support the people that make up the main body of our work, which is people making PIP [Personal Independence Payment] claims and a lot of older people claiming Attendance Allowance."

The decision would be reviewed in March.

Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.