Crippen Cartoons cartoons at the cutting edge of disability

New research will seek crucial evidence of the “serious crisis” facing Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) across England.

Inclusion London told the Disability News Service (DNS) that they have secured £80,000 from the National Lottery Community Fund to research the state of England’s “chronically under-resourced, fragmented and precarious” DPO sector.

It will produce proposals for long-term improvements to the regional and national DPO infrastructure and build a “clear picture” of the support the DPO sector needs. The research will also be used as the basis for future funding applications.

The new funding follows calls by DPOs during April’s national conference of the Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance – of which Inclusion London is a member – for more to be done to ensure the voices of disabled people and their user-led organisations are heard at both regional and national levels.

Inclusion London told DNS that about a quarter of DPOs have closed since 2015, while many others are “hanging on by a thread”.

It says that life for disabled people “is getting worse not better”, with “exclusion and discrimination coupled with rising poverty and inequality as a result of austerity, welfare reform and cuts to public services”.

The lack of resources means DPOs cannot carry out vital projects, such as outreach work with disabled people in institutions, developing the skills of its members, and tackling the “systematic exclusion” disabled people face.

Inclusion London warns that it is still “culturally acceptable, indeed the norm, to have non-disabled people representing us with funding disproportionally going to the large disability charities that are not run or controlled by disabled people and do not represent or even amplify our voice”.

To understand just how dire the situation is then please click here to read the full DNS article.

Description of cartoon for those using screen reading software

A white male and a white woman both smartly dressed in business suits are receiving a large sack of cash from Boris Johnson who represents the government. They carry a sign that identifies them as ‘groups for the disabled’. Behind Boris and trying to attract his attention, are two disabled people; a young white woman using a wheelchair and an Asian man who is wearing dark glasses and carries a white stick. They are both looking angry. They are identified by a sign that reads ‘groups of disabled people’. The male charity worker is saying to Boris: “Groups FOR and groups OF – it’s just a matter of semantics don’t you think?!”