Scope to share disabled people's visions of a better future

30 January 2012

Disabled people, their families and friends are being invited to share their vision of a better future as part of a new bid by the charity Scope to make the issue of disability better understood.

With attitudes towards disabled people getting worse (see http://www.scope.org.uk/news/latest-attitudes-survey) and people struggling to get the support they need (see http://www.scope.org.uk/news/destination-unknown-autumn), Scope believes each story has the power to inspire people to think differently, a crucial step in the journey towards changing society.

As the stories come in they will paint an increasingly vivid picture of the aspirations of disabled people, which will inform the work Scope does over the coming years.

Having run a successful pilot, Scope is now encouraging people to submit their aspirations using a new online tool at www.scope.org.uk/share.

It could be being able to go out for a meal without people staring or being able to live independently. People can also submit a picture – a kite, a speech bubble – that represents their aspirations.

One story that has already been submitted is a picture of a pair of glasses, which represents a dream that “…all disability aids and equipment become as well-designed and socially acceptable as glasses”.

Take a look at our gallery:

http://share.scope.org.uk/#!/gallery

Over the coming months Scope will seek to engage many more disabled people, their friends and family to gather a rich collection of unique insights which will build into a powerful picture of how things need to change.

Then as the stories build up, Scope will provide platforms for them to be shared.

Scope is giving over its visual identity to make sure that every time someone comes into contact with Scope they can see one of the stories. This includes a new logo made up of 60 of the pictures, putting them in all 238 shops and on every piece of communications it sends out to supporters, campaigners and service-users.

Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of the disability charity Scope, said:

“Scope exists to make the world a better place for disabled people, and everything we do has to live up to that goal.

“We can't ignore that attitudes to disabled people have got worse and people are struggling to get the support they need. Yet disability doesn't feel relevant to most people.

“Disabled people tell us if their lives were better understood it would improve attitudes.

“Scope – and before it the Spastics Society – has always been about changing society through its services and campaigns. From now, we are inviting disabled people, their friends and family to join us in making disability feel relevant by sharing their views of what the future could look like.

“By sharing stories we hope others will be inspired to believe in a vision of a better future. It will also play a big part in informing our work. We will make sure that every time someone comes into contact with Scope they can see one of these pictures. We believe that together we can create a better society.”

Alexandra O'Dwyer, Director of Communications and Marketing added:

“This is so much bigger than a re-brand. This is a new, user-generated identity. It will grow with the organisation and become a platform for disabled people.

“This wasn't the easy option. Above all the new identity is built on enormous integrity and stems from our beliefs as a social change organisation. Disability is a complex issue: everything from the messaging to the accessibility has to be appropriate.

“At the same time, basing a new identity on user-generated content brings with it a raft of engagement, design, digital and communications challenges – not least facilitating that engagement online and doing so accessibly and within a tight budget. But with a lot of hard work from our fantastic in-house communications team and the support of a couple of great agencies, we have created something that really lives up to our vision of a world where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else.”

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