sibs - the national charity for sibling support

Website: www.youngsibs.org.uk and www.sibs.org.uk
Phone: 01535 645453
Email: info@sibs.org.uk
Post: Meadowfield, Oxenhope, West Yorkshire, BD22 9JD

Sibs is the only UK charity representing the needs of siblings of disabled people. Siblings have a lifelong need for information, they often experience social and emotional isolation, and have to cope with difficult situations.  They also want to have positive relationships with their disabled brothers and sisters and to be able to choose the role they play in future care.  There are over half a million young siblings and 1.7 million adult siblings in the UK. 

Who we support
We support siblings of all ages who are growing up with or who have grown up with a brother or sister with any disability, long term chronic illness, or life limiting condition. 

We work with young siblings
We provide email information and support to young siblings (children and young people) on any sibling issue. We also run workshops for sibings on understanding their brother or sister's disability and on coping strategies for dealing with difficult siblings issues. These workshops can be bought in by statutory and voluntary agencies. 

We work with parents of siblings
We have a parenting siblings phone service for parents, to help them support siblings with sibling issues such as giving attention, explaining disability, and dealing with siblings' feelings. We also run workshops for parents on supporting siblings. These workshops can be bought in by statutory and voluntary agencies. 

We work with service providers
We provide training and consultancy for professionals on supporting siblings, how to develop local services for siblings, and how to run sibling groups using the Sibs FRAME model of groupwork. We run awareness raising events for professionals to help them understand the support needs of siblings. Our training can be bought in by statutory and voluntary agencies. 

Our vision
Sibs' long term vision is that every local authority in the UK will have a dedicated sibling service for young siblings and a support network for adult siblings.  We will achieve this through:

• Being the UK resource for information, training and research on sibling issues
• Influencing the policies of government and other service providers
• Increasing public awareness of siblings

Visit the SIBS website for more information on parent support:  www.sibs.org.uk/parents

Visit the SIBS website for more information:  www.youngsibs.org.uk