WHO CAN APPLY FOR THE SPECIAL NEEDS TECHNOLOGY GRANT?

1. The Applicant must be an employee or pensioner of Royal Mail or Post Office Ltd.

2. Serving Royal Mail (RM) or Post Office Ltd plc employees (who have parental responsibility for the child) must have a minimum of 2 years continuous service with Royal Mail or Post office Ltd. Note: Temporary contracts that were made permanent can be included in the 2 yrs. Irregular casual or agency workers are not eligible.

3. The pensioner must have previously worked for RM/PO Ltd for at least two years.  They must be currently in receipt of a retirement or medical retirement pension or be a former employee whose employment was ceased on medical severance terms and is unemployed and in receipt of Disability Living Allowance, PIP or equivalent state benefit.

4. The Applicant’s household must be in receipt of the following benefits: Universal Credit (including income support) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Carer’s Allowance to support the child the applicant is applying for.

5. The Applicant must have parental responsibility for the child for whom the grant is sought (but does not have to be a parent with residence). The technology is delivered to the Applicant, not the child.

6. If the Applicant is not the parent with residence, then the consent of the person with whom the child resides (or has a residence order) must be obtained before the application is made.  The financial information required will be that of the household in which the young person does live and any contribution made by the Applicant to the maintenance of the child must be shown separately under “other income” on the application form.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE THE GRANT?

7. Children in Reception to Year 13 (aged 4-18 years old) who need a high level of support with education, learning, listening, speaking or understanding, or have special medical needs. We would expect the child to be attending a specialist educational needs school or for their school to have put in place specialist provision for the child.

8. The type of device and/or software will be agreed between the Postal Family Fund and the Applicant.  The technology provided is non-exchangeable, non-transferable and no cash alternative is offered.

9. The special needs technology grant is made subject to the Trustees receiving verification from a special needs co-ordinator from the child’s school or special support worker of the need for the technology that is being requested.

10. If the device connects to the internet, the household will need to have its own access to broadband as we are not able to assist with data costs.