Can carers get help towards driving lessons — Scope | Disability forum
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Can carers get help towards driving lessons

lilly12345
lilly12345 Community member Posts: 3 Listener
Hi I am really starting to struggle with getting my dad out the house he has progressive MS and has no use of his legs at all. I also have 2 children to look after and relying on public transport is becoming a real problem. Does anybody know if there is help for carers towards driving lessons as this would be a real benefit to my dad and his career as he is only 53 and almost house bound due to it being so difficult. I'd much apriciate a guide in the right direction.  X

Comments

  • Chris_Alumni
    Chris_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 689 Pioneering
    Hi @lilly12345, welcome to the community. I'm sure some of our community will be along soon to share their experiences, and I'm also going to tag in @BenefitsTrainingCo, who may be able to assist with your query.


  • bam
    bam Community member Posts: 326 Pioneering
    Hello,how are you feeling today? I also have MS. It's not Progressive but it still messes with me. Your dad is lucky he has you. Good luck to you
  • lilly12345
    lilly12345 Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    Thanks for the comments I am new to this site and not really sure how it works in have looked on a websites but doesn't really give me any answers x
  • winterrose98
    winterrose98 Community member Posts: 9 Listener
    Hi there Lilly I was given a grant through my local carers group for driving lesson it wasn't the fill amount. I had to fill some forms out with help from my carers advisor and they sent away for it. It wasn't the full amount of money I needed for my lessons but it helped.
  • lilly12345
    lilly12345 Community member Posts: 3 Listener
    edited October 2016
    @winterrose98 sorry to sound stupid but what is a local carers group? I've never heard of it. X
  • winterrose98
    winterrose98 Community member Posts: 9 Listener
    Hi again Lilly , I'm based in Glasgow and we have  a carers organisation that we can access , we are given a case worker who then tries to help assist the client with  what they need help with really.
    They have support groups fr carers, health checks, I was also able to get a welfare rights advisor when it came to PIP forms and he came to my appeal with me. They also do benefit checks. Grant checks. There is also a young carers service that helps young kids who are child carers and siblings who are affected by their siblings disability. I'm sure they have a voluntary respite service if you need to attend an appointment for example.
     When I've been struggling they have been invaluable to me. Check out what's available to your area. Good luck hope you find something.
  • abstractLucas
    abstractLucas Community member Posts: 76 Connected
    Hi @lilly12345
    I hope you're doing okay - it sounds like you have an awful lot on your plate at the moment!
    It's coming at it from a slightly different angle, but with the level of your father's mobility issues I assume he's on DLA or PIP?  Each of these has a mobility element, and if he's virtually unable to get out of the house without you maybe it might get worth having a chat with him about whether he would be prepared to use some of this money to pay for a driving lesson each week for you?  After all, if you were able to drive it would make getting to appointments and so on much more straightforward - public transport is so time consuming as well as being very tiring.
    Alternatively, depending on how they do things in your area, you might be eligible for a carers grant from adult social care.  You would need to get in touch with the adult social care team at your local authority (if you google the name of the council and 'adult social care' you should be able to find contact information quite easily) and ask for - and here's the magic words - a full carers assessment under the Care Act.  This would involve talking through the support that you provide for your dad, both personal and physical support such as helping him get dressed and cooking him a meal, for example, as well as other things you may do such as doing his shopping and ringing him in the evening to check he's remembered to take his medication (for example).  They will then talk you through some options, which might include a referral to a carers centre or simply giving hou their contact info, and anything else they can do to support you in your caring role.  They may offer a carers grant (if that's something they do in your area) which you could use towards driving lessons, or something else.  
    Another possible avenue of funding for driving lessons might be using carers allowance to pay for them - Scope has information about carers allowance here http://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/money/ca so you can see if it might be worth making an application if you aren't getting it already.
    I hope some of that might help, and that you are able to find a solution - it's important that you get support for yourself and don't exhaust yourself taking care of your dad, as that won't help him in the long run!
    Take care
    Lucas

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