Cost of treatment

Dear Parent/Carer,

Welcome to B.I.R.D. and thank you for your interest in our work.
Our programme is proven to radically improve the lives of over 90% of the people we work with.

We are, however, a charity that needs to cover its basic costs of staff time, rent and overheads.

One of the many questions we are often asked is “what does it cost?” for the treatment B.I.R.D. offers. This is an understandable question. It costs £1,500 to provide a programme of treatment. In other words, this is the sum the charity pays to cover the salary of staff, administration, rent, training of staff, heating and other associated bills – per child undergoing the programme.

What Will It Cost A Family Per Child?

There are 3 stages to the programme:

1. Initial Consultation (to undertake an initial key assessment to determine if the B.I.R.D treatment is suitable for the individual and the likely benefits of the therapy programme)

2. The Full Assessment (If the initial assessment indicates the programme is suitable, this stage is a comprehensive assessment and enables the precise form of the treatment required to be determined and establishes a baseline from which to measure progress as the treatment progresses over the coming months. A full report is provided at this stage.

3. The ongoing programme (with regular review of the therapy programme and assessments).
What we ask:

1. For the Initial Consultation, we ask for £50 per child or adult undergoing assessment.

2. For the Full Assessment, we ask for £250 per child or adult undergoing assessment.

3. For engagement with the full programme, we ask for a contribution to the full cost based on a scaled approach via a transparent and fair “Screening Guide” which we use and which parents can use to find out what we ask a family to give. As a guide:

A) For a family with lower income (for example where a family is in receipt of pupil premium funding or housing benefit) – we ask the family to make any donation they are able to.

B) For those not receiving such support, we ask the family to make a minimum donation of £750. However, many families donate more to help cover the whole cost of treatment – and to help subsidise less fortunate families.

C) For families that are a stronger position, (those on a higher rate tax band), we ask for the £1500 treatment cost, with the costs of the initial treatment and the cost of the Full Assessment being deducted from that figure.
Please note: All families are welcome to consider fundraising to support their costs. By example, this may include approaching your child’s school if they are willing to use some of your child’s EHC funding or Pupil Premium funding or approaching various charitable groups/foundations or undertaking your own fundraising events or challenges.

Why A Scaled Approach? Why Not One Cost For All?

Our focus is on helping everyone who comes to us. But we face a day-to-day financial challenge and need to have a structure in place which is fair. Without contributions to our treatment costs, the charity would cease to exist.

No system is perfect, but by using this sliding scale to finance the treatment, we feel it enables the majority to benefit and to be able to access the help we give.

If you are concerned or would like further clarity, please do contact us. Any requests put to us will genuinely be looked at and considered sympathetically. However, so that you may be able to estimate what it is likely to “cost” the following table is designed to help you and is used by us to determine what we ask for. Please note, we do ask for some evidence in determining the amount asked and the acceptable forms are given below.

Finance Contribution Scale

Initial Consultation £50 requested from all families

Full Comprehensive Assessment £250 requested from all families

A) Full B.I.R.D Programme Donation requested at each appointment – what you are able to donate
Determined by a Child in receipt of pupil premium; Family in receipt of Housing Benefit

B) Full B.I.R.D Programme MINIMUM £750
(Minus the Assessment cost already paid)
Determined by families not in receipt of the above grants but below the Higher Rate Tax Threshold

C) Full B.I.R.D Programme £1,500
(Minus the Assessment cost already paid)
Determined by those who do pay all or part of monthly/annual income at the Higher rate (currently 40%) tax rate
* These figures are calculated with the intention of the charity being able to meet the basic cost of providing its programme of treatment at an average cost, all factors and costs taken into consideration, of £1,500 per child or adult on the programme

Exemplar Evidence
Letter from your child’s school of entitlement to Pupil premium funding or letter from Local Authority
Evidence of receipt of Housing Benefit
Tax return
Wage slip / P60
Bank statement