A date for the ACT AGM has been set.

The AGM will take place at the NatWest Building, Princes Street, London on the afternoon of Tuesday the 16th of October 2007.

All ACT members are welcome to attend so please put this date in your diary.

Children's Minister Jane Hutt has announced £1.54m to help volunteers to care for children with a disability.

The money will go towards recruiting 'short break' carers - people able to give some time on a regular basis to look after a disabled child.

The idea is to ease strain on parents and families and enable the child to develop new skills and confidence.

More than 40 disabled children, their families and carers gathered in the Senedd to listen to the announcement.

"This new £1.54m funding will help provide more short breaks, enabling disabled children and their families to live more normal and more rewarding lives," Ms Hutt said.

Pippa Boss, Development Officer for Shared Care Network Cymru, which promotes the short break scheme said the funding will enable local authorities to offer the short break scheme to 70 more families in Wales.

"Short breaks are one of the most frequently requested services by the families of disabled children, and many families are still waiting," she said.

Shared care Network's latest national survey, published in March 2007 revealed that throughout the UK, 3,500 disabled children are still waiting for a short break carer.

The International Children’s Palliative Care Alliance (ICPCN) is a worldwide network of agencies working with children and young people with life-limiting conditions. 

ICPCN shares a vision that the total needs of life-limited children and their families should be met, to encompass physical, emotional, social, spiritual and developmental aspects of care. 

ACT is currently carrying out the day to day administration of ICPCN, and one of our key tasks is developing a new ICPCN website which will host an “International Directory” of children’s palliative care professionals across the world.  It will be the first international website that represents all children’s palliative care services worldwide, and we plan to launch the site this autumn.

So why not become part of the network of organisations and individuals working in children's palliative care from all over the world - it’s free to join!

ACT works hard to raise awareness of the needs and experiences of children with life limiting conditions and their families so we can lobby to improve services and ensure that children and their families receive the best quality of life and care.  We work with families, professionals and decision makers to bring about real change. 

But we need your help. If you or a family member has a child or children with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition and would like to share your own personal story please contact ACT. Whatever your experience we are very keen to hear from you. Everyone has a unique and powerful story to tell and by sharing your personal experience you are not only helping to advance others’ knowledge of what it is like to have a child with a life-limiting condition, you can also help to raise awareness of children’s palliative care.

One of the ways that we can really change hearts and minds is by working proactively and positively with the media – a powerful mechanism for conveying the realities of living with a life-limiting or threatening condition, or caring for a child or young person.