| Disability |
|---|
Disability Rights UK (DR UK) is a UK pan-disability charity which was set up with the aim of representing the needs and expectations of disabled people in the UK. Disability Rights UK was formed as a result of several disability charities merging in 2012. [1]
Disability Rights UK was formed through a unification of Disability Alliance, RADAR and National Centre for Independent Living on 1 January 2012. RADAR was formed in 1977 as the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation.
RADAR was an umbrella organisation which sought to work with and for disabled people in the UK. Its aim was to remove structural, economic and attitudinal barriers. It campaigned and produced policy statements and briefings on related issues and provided support services for its member organisations. RADAR merged with two other organisations to form Disability Rights UK in 2012.
Disability Rights UK campaigns on a number of issues, including independent living, work and education, and against hate crime, bullying and negative attitudes towards disabled people. [2]
Disability Rights UK offers several advice phonelines: a service for disabled students, a service to report disability discrimination, support with personal budgets, and welfare rights advice for member organisations. As well as this, it publishes factsheets and guides on issues relevant to disabled people, such as working and obtaining social care. [3] [4]
The National Key Scheme (formerly known as the RADAR Key Scheme) is a universal key scheme, enabling disabled people to access accessible toilets in the UK, that prevents misuse and vandalism of these facilities. The scheme has continued to be formally administered by Disability Rights UK as the legacy organisation of RADAR. [5] There are at least 9,000 toilets in the UK that can be accessed with the key. [6] The key itself is designed with many features –such as its large size –to enable users with physical impairments to use the key with greater ease. [6] Keys can be obtained from Disability Rights UK, local authorities, and online. [7] [ dead link ] Unlike other sellers, all profits from keys sold by Disability Rights UK are ploughed back into services for disabled people.
Age Concern is the banner title used by several charitable organizations (NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people based chiefly in the four countries of the United Kingdom.
Stonewall Equality Limited, trading as Stonewall, is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.
Scope is a disability charity in England and Wales that campaigns to change negative attitudes about disability, provides direct services, and educates the public. The organisation was founded in 1952 by a group of parents and social workers who wanted to ensure that their disabled children had the right to a decent education. Originally focused on cerebral palsy, Scope now embraces all conditions and impairment. Scope subscribes to the social model of disability rather than the medical model of disability – that a person is disabled by the barriers placed in front of them by society, not because of their condition or impairment.
Citizens Advice is an independent organisation specialising in confidential information and advice to assist people with legal, debt, consumer, housing and other problems in the United Kingdom.
Action for Children is a UK children's charity created to help vulnerable children and young people and their families in the UK. The charity has 7,000 staff and volunteers who operate over 475 services in the UK. They served a total of 671,275 children in 2021 and 2022. Action for Children's national headquarters is in Watford, and it is a registered charity under English and Scottish law. In 2017/2018, it had a gross income of £151 million.
The Refugee Council is a UK based organisation which works with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations. The Refugee Council also produces many reports and educational material relating to refugee issues, and lobbies politicians and the media on these issues. The Council works in partnership with many other refugee organisations, including the British Red Cross, Scottish Refugee Council, Welsh Refugee Council, North of England Refugee Service, Northern Refugee Centre, and Refugee Action.
Accessible toilets are toilets that have been specially designed to better accommodate people with physical disabilities. Persons with reduced mobility find them useful, as do those with weak legs, as a higher toilet bowl makes it easier for them to stand up. Additional measures that can be taken to add accessibility to a toilet include providing more space, adding grab bars to ease transfer to and from the toilet seat, and providing extra room for a caregiver if necessary. Some countries have requirements concerning the accessibility of public toilets. Toilets in private homes can be modified (retrofitted) to increase accessibility.
The Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) is an independent UK charity that provides practical services for prisoners and prisoners' families. First established as the Catholic Prisoners Aid Society in 1898, Pact works at several prisons across England and Wales.
Motability is a scheme run by a private company called Motability Operations Ltd, intended to enable disabled people, their families and their carers to lease a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair, using their disability benefit. It is overseen by the charity called the Motability Foundation in the United Kingdom. According to its response to a UK Government inquiry in 2019 into enhancing mobility for disabled citizens, Motability Ltd had over 620,000 customers. In 2022 it made a pre-tax profit of £1.1bn. According to Citizen's Advice, access to the scheme is dependent on eligibility relative to mobility conditions in government schemes, including: Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP) or War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement. Motability's 2019/2020 audit document reported 94% of persons using Motability's scheme to buy a car either have a physical disability or long term health condition. In 2018, the National Audit Office praised the customer satisfaction rates for the service, but criticised the profit and reserve levels the charity held. They also noted criticised its governance and "executive remuneration." A response to a 2019 parliamentary committee to release £343 million of its £2.5bn reserve was greeted as a "first step" to making best use of its "vast sums."
Leonard Cheshire is a major health and welfare charity working in the United Kingdom and running development projects around the world. It was founded in 1948 by Royal Air Force officer Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC.
ARC Association for Real Change is a UK membership organisation, which supports providers of services to people with a learning disability.
Age Scotland is the national charity for older people in Scotland, UK. It is based in Edinburgh.
Sightsavers is an international non-governmental organisation that works with partners in developing countries to treat and prevent avoidable blindness, and promote equality for people with visual impairments and other disabilities. It is based in Haywards Heath in the United Kingdom, with branches in Sweden, Norway, India, Italy, Republic of Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, and the US.
Disabled Motoring UK is a non-governmental organization founded in the UK in 1922 and was recently known as Mobilise. It is a campaigning charity for disabled drivers, passengers, and blue badge holders in the United Kingdom. Disabled Motoring UK lobbies the government and businesses to improve parking, access, and refuelling services for disabled people. Disabled Motoring UK does not just campaign for motorists but also supports scooter and wheelchair users, as well as the families and carers of disabled people.
Personal Independence Payment is a welfare benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help working age adults with the extra costs of living with a health condition or a disability. It is available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not in Scotland where Adult Disabled Payment (ADP) is claimed instead.
Disability in the United Kingdom covers a wide range of conditions and experiences, deeply impacting the lives of millions of people. Defined by the Equality Act 2010 as a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, it encompasses various aspects of life, including demographics, legislation, healthcare, employment, and culture. Despite numerous advancements in policy and social attitudes, individuals with disabilities often encounter unique challenges and disparities.
Rachel Mary Rosalind Hurst CBE is a British activist and former director of Disability Awareness in Action (DAA), an international network working on disability and human rights.
The National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) was a non-profit staffed organisation controlled by and run for disabled people active in social care issues to campaign for and support the independent living of disabled people in the community and using personal assistants, as opposed to living in institutions such as care homes and hospitals. It ceased its work in December 2011.
Rights Now, sometimes written with an exclamation mark, was a British umbrella group of disabled people's organisations and charities which campaigned for a change in the law to prevent discrimination against disabled people and for a full civil rights law, even though the result was the flawed Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The biggest protest in numbers of people was in July 1994 at Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, London. It was a very broad-based campaign, including trade unions for example. Campaigning to improve the laws for full civil rights continued, but Rights Now as a group ended in 1995.
Sense is a charitable organization based in the United Kingdom. The charity exists to support people who are deafblind or who have a hearing or vision impairment and another disability and campaigns for the rights of disabled people in the UK. It operates in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
