Families often experience financial stress or difficulties while supporting their child’s care and treatment. At Children’s Hospital Foundation, we’re working hard to help alleviate these pressures with our Family Financial Hardship Grant.
Last financial year, Children’s Hospital Foundation committed $195,000 to help address the financial hardship of families with sick children, enhancing family experiences and improving access to Queensland Children’s Hospital to show support for brave young patients and their families who provide care.
Supporting families’ financial needs
Rising cost of living, medical expenses, accommodation and travel requirements all contribute to the financial stress families face when their children are sick or injured. As parents focus on their child’s care and medical needs, other necessities can often be put to the side.
The Family Financial Hardship Grant means that families in this situation can be offered practical and rapid supports at a time when this can make a positive difference.
In partnership with the Children’s Health Queensland Social Welfare team, the Family Financial Hardship Grant supports families with limited income or access to funds across Queensland and northern New South Wales.
The Grant, originally called the Mary McConnel Fund, was first established at the Royal Children’s Hospital to provide immediate, practical support and to ease the financial burden during some of the most difficult moments of a family’s life.
Children’s Health Queensland Director of Social Work, Tim Wood, believes the support provided through the Grant is invaluable and makes a profound difference to families.
“Between January 2020 and January 2026, more than 10,000 unique families have accessed practical assistance and essential supports,” said Mr Wood.
“These funds have enabled everything from something as simple as a parking pass to covering flights for parents and siblings when no other options were available.”
Over 20 years of support
Children’s Hospital Foundation has supported the Family Financial Hardship Grant for over 20 years, reducing stress and pressure on families and allowing them to give greater focus to what truly matters – their child’s recovery and wellbeing.
The Family Hardship Grant helps families with:
- Food vouchers for ward parent meals
- Clothing, footwear and toiletries
- Hospital transport and parking (including taxis and Go-Cards)
- Woolworths gift cards for groceries, fuel and essential needs
- Mobile phone and SIM credit
- Bill and medical equipment payments
- Uber Eats vouchers
- Funeral cost assistance.
Children’s Hospital Foundation Director of Impact, Nick Van Dyke, said the Family Financial Hardship Grant is a lifeline for many families needing to support their child with quality care and treatment.
“During times of crisis, families deserve stability, dignity and the ability to focus wholly on their child’s wellbeing,” said Mr Van Dyke.
“The Family Financial Hardship Grant provides exactly that – immediate, flexible support that responds to the real-world needs identified every day by Children’s Health Queensland’s frontline teams.”
In FY2024-25, $152,000 of the Foundation’s funding was spent on the provision of vouchers for travel, coffee, groceries and fuel.
The remaining funds supported families through assistance to reduce costs of medical equipment hire, bill payments and funeral costs.
Now more than ever, the Family Financial Hardship Grant is essential for families with sick and injured children, easing the financial burden and reducing out of pocket expenses during their hospital stay.
A helping hand across Queensland
In 2025, more than 2,156 families benefited from the Family Financial Hardship Grant, with 44% of funds supporting families living outside south-east and metropolitan Brisbane, and 35% to First Nations families.
“The Family Financial Hardship Grant is built on compassion, delivered with dignity, and tailored to the unique needs of each family – whether that means food vouchers, transport assistance, help with essential bills or support during end-of-life circumstances,” said Mr Van Dyke.
“For more than two decades, this Grant has quietly but powerfully eased the burden for thousands of families. And it continues to evolve to meet emerging needs, such as expanding food voucher options and increasing clothing stock to respond to immediate shortages.”
With the Foundation’s support, the Family Financial Hardship Grant is successfully:
- Responding to cost-of-living impacts for families through raising different voucher options and bill payments
- Addressing food insecurity risks through food and meal voucher options
- Increasing clothing stock to enhance immediate needs
- Promoting health equity and access for First Nation families.
Making the journey easier
To date, Children’s Hospital Foundation has provided over $2 million to families in need through the Family Financial Hardship Grant.
The Grant has directly reduced food insecurity, prevented missed medical appointments due to travel costs and ensured families can remain close to their child throughout treatment.
Recently, the Foundation was able to provide accommodation, transport and meal vouchers to a patient and their parent travelling home from Queensland Children’s Hospital to Far North Queensland, thanks to the Family Financial Hardship Grant.
The extra support and care the Foundation was able to provide ensured a safe return trip for the patient and their parent.
As family reliance on this program grows, Children’s Hospital Foundation hopes to expand the Family Financial Hardship Grant’s reach and flexibility so that no family in need of assistance slips through the cracks.
Digital options are a recognised focus for the Grant to improve family connections across Queensland.
“I am proud to work in a hospital and health service that not only delivers outstanding medical care but also recognises the importance of practical support in enabling the best possible care,” shared Mr Wood.
“I am equally proud of the ongoing support from the Children’s Hospital Foundation and the Queensland community, who make this vital assistance possible.”
The Foundation’s vision is to work with Children’s Health Queensland to increase the level of funding available and introduce new assistance options that respond to evolving community needs, particularly for families in rural and remote regions and for First Nations communities.
Your donations make grants like this possible.
If you’d like to learn more about how your support can make a difference to sick kids and their families, head here.
The difference that shapes their world
Through supporting the Children’s Hospital Foundation, you can improve childhoods and ensure all children and young people have access to treatment - sooner.
