Disability Rights UK

💥Jam-packed DPO newsletter going out on Monday!

Work for a DPO or user-led organisation? Sign up to our monthly DPO newsletter, which goes out on the last Monday of every month.

Sign-up here👇
www.disabilityrightsuk.org/sign-our-dpo...

"Any restrictions to EHCPs and attacks on our rights will cut the few lifelines to support that currently exist. If the government’s priority is to support us into work, then targeting rights and blaming us won’t help. Increasing funding and tackling institutional ableism might."

Children with SEND need support, not restrictions to their rights With the SEND white paper due to be published, Bethany Bale writes about what must change to ensure that children get the right support.

🚨NEWS🚨

Disabled children need support. The government must not restrict their rights - our education campaigner, Bethany Bale, wrote about the Government's upcoming SEND white paper and how the system needs complete overhaul.

Read👇
www.bigissue.com/opinion/chil...

We have a benefits calculator with @turn2us_org so you can check what support you are eligible for that you might not be claiming right now.

Check it out 🧮https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/content/benefits-calculator

£24 billion of support is unclaimed: new “Missing Out” report

🚨NEWS🚨

£24.1 billion in benefits will go unclaimed in 2025/26 says new Policy in Practice report. That is 12x the government's planned benefit cuts.

The highest unclaimed amounts are found in:
👉universal credit
👉council tax support
👉carer’s allowance

www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/%C2%A32...

Important opportunity for those with lived experience of mental ill-health or distress - be part of an organisation working for change! 💥

NSUN is recruiting: Trustees, including Chair and Treasurer We are looking for trustees, including a Chair and Treasurer, to help lead the only lived experience-led national mental health charity.

Join NSUN as a trustee, chair or treasurer!

This is an exciting time to help lead the only lived experience-led national mental health charity. If you’re interested in social justice and bringing a critical perspective to the mental health sector, apply by 27/10/25.

www.nsun.org.uk/news/nsun-is...

Disabled victims face obstacles at every stage of the justice process - including significant practical barriers, from delays in securing interpreters and intermediaries to inaccessible courtrooms. Finding from the Victims' Commissioner report Disabled victims' experiences of criminal justice systems: a systematic literature review Logo of the Victims Commissioner in right hand corner

🚨NEWS🚨

Disabled Victims Face Hurdles at Every Step of the Justice Process, finds new Victims Commissioner report

'Disabled victims report feeling dismissed, having their credibility questioned and offences recorded as less serious crimes'

Read more👇 www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/disable...

Disabled Facilities Grant Consultation: Our Response with Inclusion

1 in 4 Disabled Londoners with housing access requirements live in completely inaccessible homes, according to
@inclusionlondon.bsky.social's research.

This must change. The Disabled Facilities Grant needs reform! Read our consultation response 👇
www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/disable...

Everyday creativity should be for everyone. We are talking with Disabled communities and creative groups to make sure it is. Join us on Zoom Tuesday 14th October 12noon - 1pm Logo in the corner of Make it Together, that has 3 freehand drawn lines to symbolise collective creativity.

🎨Access to arts should be a right, not a privilege. So why are so many Deaf & Disabled people locked out of creative spaces?

Make It Together wants to tackle this!

Join our online creative hangout centring Deaf & Disabled people and your experiences👇 www.creative-lives.org/Event/online...

Labour’s housing policies will have ‘quite negligible’ impact on accessibility, MPs are told Housing policies announced by the Labour government in its first year in power will have a “quite negligible” impact on improving accessibility and addressing disabled people’s housing needs, a dis…

🚨NEWS🚨

"Labour government's housing policies will have ‘quite negligible’ impact on accessibility"

DR UK Policy Lead Mikey told the select committee of the 40 year waiting list for a wheelchair accessible home 🏠

Read more by @johnpring.bsky.social 👇

www.disabilitynewsservice.com/labours-hous...

Cash4Clubs – Sported working with Flutter to fund grassroots sport across the UK and Ireland - Sported Cash4Clubs Since 2008, Flutter UKI has donated over £6.5million to community sports clubs through the Cash4Clubs programme, helping thousands of people across the UK and Ireland by ensuring they have ...

💸Cash4Clubs Funding available!

They aim to get small grants of £2,000 to sports clubs that need it, especially those working to engage adults from marginalised backgrounds, such as Disabled people. The funding is unrestricted!

Deadline: 8th Dec. 2025
sported.org.uk/cash4clubs/

🗣️"The waiting list for a new-build wheelchair accessible home is currently 40 years.

If you don't live in an accessible home as a Disabled person, it's a dangerous home, and a dangerous home you could be living in for 40 years."

DR UK's Mikey speaking to The Housing Select Committee 👇

🏠"Without understanding your local needs, how can you ever build the right kind of homes to suit your local population?"

Mikey speaking to the Select Committee, stating the need for local authorities to hold housing developers to account 👇

LIVE: parliamentlive.tv/event/index/...

"When we think about what Disabled people want and need out of housing in the UK at the moment, the thing I get told the most is: I want to be able to afford it."

🎙️Our Policy Lead, Mikey Erhardt, is currently speaking to the Housing Select Committee about housing conditions in England ⬇️

"Our government bears a fundamental duty to safeguard protected minorities and those at risk in our society. If there is even a hint of uncertainty regarding the potential ramifications of this legislation on their well-being, it cannot proceed." - Rachael Ross, founding member of the NDSPG

Assisted Dying Bill's Second Reading: House of Lords Must Respond to

🚨NEWS🚨

As the Assisted Dying Bill faces its second reading in the House of Lords on Friday, we have signed The National Down Syndrome Policy Group's an open letter - peers must listen to Disabled people's concerns about the bill.

Read the letter here👇 www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/assiste...

How to be a good employer Build respect, lead fairly and create a workplace that works for everyone. What makes a good (and bad) employer - understand the key traits and behaviours that define effective, fair and respectful leadership and what to avoid. Rethinking the term Boss' - Learn why we prefer employer over boss to promote equality, partnership and mutual respect in the workplace. Know your legal responsibilities - get clear on your legal obligations as an employer to ensure compliance and protect both you and your employees. Location: Online training Time: 13:00 - 17:30 Dates 15th September 22nd September Your Support Matters Logo Funded by Skills for Care

🧠 Online training from Your Support Matters for employers who recruit a personal assistant!

💡 What makes a good employer?
💡 Equality, partnership and mutual respect in the workplace
💡 Legal responsibilities to employees

💻15th September + 22nd September, 13:00 - 17:30

yoursupportmatters.com/events

Disability Inclusion in Public Appointments Explore challenges & opportunities around disability representation in public appointments.

Webinar: Disability Inclusion in Public Appointments

📅Wednesday 10th September
🕒3 - 4:15pm
💻Online

A conversation around representation in government public appointments.

Interested? More info and sign up here🎟️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/disability...

Meet DR UK's First London Marathon 2026 Star, Sebastian!

🎽The 2025 London Marathon only just ended and we already have a runner training for 2026!

Meet Sebastian, a composer for film and TV, who's choosing to fundraise for DR UK because of the importance of Disabled-led activism.

Read more and support him!💥

www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/meet-dr...

🏠Accessible Homes Week Webinar!

Join Habinteg and CAE for this free webinar sharing the latest insights into England's plans for accessible homes - and a discussion about the inequality still rife in housing.

Sign up here👇
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/forecast-f...

600,000 disabled people at risk of Labour's next round of benefit cuts Campaigners have warned that nearly 600,000 disabled people could be at risk from the next round of the government’s benefit cuts.

The government wants to scrap the work capability assessment (WCA), which will hit 600,000 Disabled people.

Why does this government have money for weapons and tax cuts for billionaires but not Disabled people on the breadline?
www.bigissue.com/news/social-...

Access to Work survey This survey aims to collect information from people using the scheme The questionnaire should be completed by people who have received assistance from the scheme. It covers dec... Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

📊SURVEY!

Have you used the Access to Work scheme over the past two years? The Disability Poverty Campaign Group is running a survey on your experiences of Access to Work and what support you've received.

Fill it in here! 👇
www.surveymonkey.com/r/CK7FPTW

Into Perspective: Why must disabled people's views be at the heart of welfare reform? In this issue’s Into Perspective, CMM looks at why the lived experience of disabled people should be at the heart of welfare reform.

📣Why Disabled people's lived experience must be at the heart of welfare reform

"Reforms are being designed about us, not with us. They are shaped by people who rarely reflect the communities they legislate for" - DR UK CEO, Kamran Mallick

Read on 👇
www.caremanagementmatters.co.uk/feature/into...

Emergency Alerts Campaign Resources - Prepare The UK government will be carrying out a national test of the Emergency Alerts system on Sunday 7 September at 3pm. We would greatly appreciate your support in raising awareness of the test across the...

The UK government will conduct a national test of the Emergency Alerts system on Sunday 7 September at 3pm.

Compatible mobile phones and tablets will receive an alert, which will sound like a loud siren and vibrate.

Find out more (Easy Read, BSL, audio) prepare.campaign.gov.uk/emergency-al...

Is the Timms Review of disability benefit PIP just a tick-box exercise? Mikey Erhardt at Disability Rights UK writes about why the Stephen Timms review of PIP cannot be used as a smokescreen for cuts.

Mikey Erhardt, policy lead at @disrightsuk.bsky.social, wrote for @bigissue.com about why the Stephen Timms review of the personal independence payment (PIP) must be used to ensure genuine and positive change for disabled people.

www.bigissue.com/opinion/timm...

Our website is currently down! 🚨

We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience this causes, as we know how important the resources on there can be. We are working hard to get it back up and running as soon as we can!

Thank you for your patience💙

Disabled Motoring UK - Baywatch Campaign 2025 Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

Disabled customers are driving away from supermarkets due to poor accessibility. With 3 million Blue Badge holders in the UK you’d expect better.

Complete the 5 minute Baywatch survey when next at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, and Lidl
📢 www.surveymonkey.com/r/BDWGZTT

Is the Timms Review of disability benefit PIP just a tick-box exercise? Mikey Erhardt at Disability Rights UK writes about why the Stephen Timms review of PIP cannot be used as a smokescreen for cuts.

"Our good faith must not be held against us. Our involvement in the process will not automatically lead to our endorsement and support for any specific policy. Only then will this review be worth more than the paper it is written on."

DR UK's Mikey in @bigissue.com👇
www.bigissue.com/opinion/timm...

Benefits claimants with MS and Parkinson's face universal credit cut Keir Starmer can still ‘avoid a crisis’ by rethinking a key benefit reform, say rebel Labour MPs

🚨People with MS and Parkinson's face Universal Credit Cut, which will cause a 'crisis'

DR UK's Mikey Erhardt: "We’re worried that if symptoms are not constant, you could be pushed into the lower group and getting less money than you need"

inews.co.uk/news/benefit...