Our collaboration with McCain receives national acclaim

This high profile partnership with McCain, the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, was formed to champion the importance of family moments and shine a light on the current daily challenges families with disabled children face.

The innovation of this collaboration has now been commended at the recent Association of Charitable Organisations annual awards.

A special partnership

We help provide essential items for families on the lowest incomes with disabled and seriously ill children and young people, including kitchen appliances, clothing, bedding, play equipment and much-needed family breaks.

Last year, we provided over 170,919 grants and services worth over £37 million to families across the UK.

Parents and carers raising a disabled or seriously child can face costs some three times higher than other families. A grant from our charity can make all the difference by providing essentials needed for the care of these children.

Over the course of a three-year commitment, McCain has pledged £1 million to support our annual goal of providing 150,000 grants and services to these families. Together they have launched a new grants programme that provides thousands of families with essential household items centred around mealtimes together. 

“This has been a really effective and powerful collaboration, our families face enormous challenges every day and do so with great courage and dedication to giving the best possible life to their children.

By working with McCain we are supporting family mealtimes, precious time they can spend together and fundamental to wellbeing, particularly during the current cost of living crisis. The numbers of families who turn to us for help is growing continuously and this partnership is helping us to expand our grant-giving programmes at a critical time.  It is also raising vital societal awareness about the challenges and barriers families we support face.”

Cheryl Ward, Family Fund’s chief executive officer

Nine in ten families reported that the health and wellbeing of their disabled child improved as a result of the partnership grant they received.

The partnership has also involved a series of successful, wide-reaching mainstream campaigns including:

• a podcast series with Paddy & Christine McGuiness about bringing up disabled children;
• four primetime TV adverts and a film with food expert Greg Wallace;
• an award-winning media partnership called Teatime Tales with Sky Media;
• Surveying and publicising the data of over 4,000 families which examines family life across the UK and some of the challenges facing disabled children

Donal Watkin, Association of Charitable Organisations chief executive officer said:

“We were delighted to give Family Fund a special commendation at our 2nd ACO Annual Awards 2022 for Collaboration of the Year for their partnership with McCain Foods.

We thought the messages from their joint advertising campaign, to highlight important family moments and ensure the stories from families raising disabled children were heard, as well as raising awareness of Family Fund’s work and vision of ensuring that families raising disabled or seriously ill children have the same choices, quality of life, opportunities and aspirations as other families, were all highly commendable.”

Donal Watkin, Association of Charitable Organisations chief executive officer

More about our partnership with McCain

Families are at our heart, and it is the importance of family that makes our partnership with McCain so unique. McCain, as a family business, appreciates the importance of family moments, making the time and taking the opportunities to be together, especially at mealtimes.