We all need help and support or advice from time to time:
FPP has listed some key Folkestone community groups on this page.
We have also collated listings of key services for families on a separate Family Support page – click here
The following agencies may be useful to you for support services and info:
DISK (Disability Information Service Kent) NOW CLOSED
Some factsheets and useful information are still available from the Website – click here to visit
CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau)
CAB aims to provide the advice people need for the problems they face and improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives. They provide free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. They value diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination.
Website here
Rainbow Centre
The Rainbow Centre is a Christian charity that delivers a range of services in Shepway to provide support and hope to individuals and families experiencing deprivation or hardship.
Website here
AgeUK
Age UK want to make the UK a great place to grow older. They provide advice, enable independence and combat loneliness.
Website here
Gingerbread
Gingerbread provides expert advice, practical support and campaign for single mums and dads.
Website here
Children’s Centres / Sure Start Centres
Sure Start Centres give help and advice on child and family health, parenting, money, training and employment.
Website here
Porchlight
Porchlight help people who have nowhere to go and no-one to turn to. Some are people are homeless, others are struggling to cope with the pressures in their lives and need our support to keep on track. They work across Kent and the south east, and help vulnerable and isolated people get support with their mental health, housing, education and employment.
Website
Forward Trust
This group, with a local outreach programme, help people that have issues with drugs and/or alcohol and want to make a positive change. They also support the family and friends of people who are worried about their loved ones substance use.
Website here
Take-Off
They say: “Whilst we can’t resolve people’s economic difficulties, we do have a belief that mental ill-health detests two things: oxygen and friendship. This is therefore what we seek to provide as both these things take the problems from inside the head to the outside; while not necessarily removing them completely they do become easier to live with and they lose their hold over us.”
How to contact: Website Tel: 01303 245840 Email
Shopmobility Folkestone / Wheelchair User Group
The mission of the Wheelchair Users Group is:
“To empower and enable wheelchair users to lead full and active lives by helping them obtain the right mobility equipment from both the statutory and private sector”.
Website
Centre for Independent Living Kent
CiLK exists to help its members, and others who share its philosophy, to be self-advocates, to take control and have real choice over how they live their lives.
Website
Benefits & Work
An information service that provides excellent guides and advice for those dealing with benefits issues, particularly those going through assessments and appeals for PIP.
Website
Universal Credit information and advice here
