What does Umbrella do?

Umbrella enables disabled children and young adults to realise their full potential.

  • We empower parents and carers, supporting them in their care of their disabled child or young adult.
  • We provide exciting, stimulating activities for children and young adults which encourage the development of skills, whilst having fun; giving disabled children and young adults opportunities that non-disabled children take for granted

Umbrella supports any family with a disabled child or young adult aged 5 to 30. Umbrella is able to support a child or young adult no matter what their disability as our services are person centred to meet individual needs.

We are based in Derby City and provide local services in Derby City, Amber Valley, Erewash, South Derbyshire and South Derbyshire Dales. We also provide a limited number of parent services in the rest of Derbyshire.

As a local charity, we are constantly growing and changing to meet the needs of local families with disabled children and young adults.

Umbrella provides services from a wide range of venues across Derbyshire. We have an office within the Ronnie MacKeith Child Development Centre at the Royal Derby Hospital.  Umbrella House in Mackworth is used as a venue for a wide range of Umbrella services and activities.

Umbrella welcomes contact from anyone connected  with a disabled child or young adult – including (but not limited to) parents, carers, grandparents, social workers, teachers and youth workers.

Our Misson

Umbrella’s vision is to enable disabled children and young people to realise their full potential in an integrated society.

Provide best practice in empowering parents and carers of disabled children, young people and young adults

Provide high quality services which are safe, secure and conducive to personal development

Influence society so that disabled children and young people are fully included in all aspects of society, recognised for their abilities

By pursuing these goals together, we will reduce the impact of disability on families today and create a fully inclusive world tomorrow.

Our Values

Always informed by the needs and experiences of parents and carers of disabled children and of young adults themselves, we will be:

Inclusive

Making sure that we reach out and involve people from every group and community

Entrepreneurial

Challenging ourselves and others to question the status quo, be pioneering, and embracing change

Quality driven

Making sure that we reach out and involve people from every group and community

Respectful

Making sure that we reach out and involve people from every group and community

What are Activity Support Workers?
Activity Support Workers (known as ASWs) are our staff who look after the children and young adults, whether it’s on a one to one outing to the cinema or a group session at Umbrella House, they are the team who directly provide the support.
How can I find out more about which services I can access from Umbrella?
Our Information office and Family Support team are based at The Ronnie McKeith Child Development Centre at Royal Derby Hospital. Please call 01332 785658 and we will be delighted to talk you through the various options.
Do you provide PA's (Personal Assistants)

We do not use or employ personal assistants (agency or self employed assistants). Umbrella recruit and employ their own staff to ensure the correct training has been received, relevant insurance cover is in place and necessary police checks are carried out.

 

Can I fundraise for Umbrella?
We welcome the support anyone has to offer Umbrella. If you want to raise funds, you can visit our How You Can Help pages for more information. We are a very busy team and will try and support as many events as we can but please don’t be offended if we can’t attend an event as we can’t promise to get to them all.

 

How can I volunteer?
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Michelle Brown who is our Volunteer Services Coordinator. She will be able to tell you more about how you can help. You can contact Michelle on 01332 521229 or by emailing michelleb@umbrella.uk.net. You can also find out more information here