You are here: Home > Links

Links

We think that these links could be useful resources for users of our site. Please note that we cannot take responsibility for the content or accessibility of external organisations' websites. Not all of the organisations listed necessarily work within the social model of disability.

If you would like to suggest additions or feel that a particular site is inappropriate, please contact us. Your feedback is always very welcome.

Browse Topics

Access

Disabled People’s Organisations

Disabled People’s Movement

Arts and Media

Education and Skills

Employment and Business

Volunteering

Benefits and Tax Credits

Government and Other Organisations

Independent Living

Local Information

Directories on Disability Issues

Research and Statistics

International Links

Access    

Manchester Disabled People's Access Group is an organisation of disabled people promoting best practice in access design and access standards, and campaigning to improve access to buildings, transport, the environment, information and services. Their website includes lots of useful links and resources.

Design for Access 2 Manual (Adobe PDF) is Manchester City Council's best practice standards for architects and planners, developed in conjunction with Manchester Disabled People's Access Group.

Access to Venues Guide is produced by Full Circle Arts. It is a searchable database giving venues in the North West of England a star rating of 1 to 5 for accessibility.

Ability Net provides information about the use of computer technology for disabled people. The site includes tailored information for employers.

Centre for Accessible Environments (CAE) is concerned with the practicalities of inclusive design in the built environment. They provide information, design guidance, training and consultancy services.

National Register of Access Consultants (NRAC) is an independent register of accredited Access Auditors and Access Consultants who meet professional standards and criteria established by a peer review system.

DisabledGo provides free, detailed access information on shops and services in many parts of the UK. Areas currently covered include Liverpool, Salford and Stockport.

Direct Enquiries is an online disability access register that gives businesses and service providers throughout the United Kingdom an opportunity to publicise the access and facilities they currently provide. It also provides details about what access and facilities they cannot provide today, but hope to provide in the future.

Is There an Accessible Loo? (ITAAL ) microsite provides key information and publications on accessible toilets. The site is now based within the Centre for Accessible Environment's webpages. ITAAL itself was wound up at the end of 2005.

Revealweb gives information on how to get hold of a range of resources in Braille, moon, audio and digital talking books and large print. Revealweb has now been incorporated into the RNIB's library catalogue.

Plain English Campaign is an independent pressure group fighting for public information to be written in plain English.

Build for All is a reference handbook supported by the European Union which aims to advise the public sector how to ensure that all its buildings will be accessible and usable by all EU citizens.

Back to list of topics

Disabled People's Organisations

Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) campaigns for the rights of disabled people. Established in 1985, we are an organisation of disabled people led by disabled people. Anyone can join GMCDP and we welcome enquiries from everyone.  

GMCDP also has a Young Disabled People's Forum and provides a wide range of services and activities for young disabled people aged from 15-25 years of age including:

*youth group meetings

*advocacy support

*training provision

*volunteering opportunities

*drama group

*consultation provision.

Contact GMCDP on 0161 273 5154.

Merseyside Coalition of Inclusive Living (MCIL) is a local organisation controlled by Disabled People. It exists to promote the social inclusion of and equality of opportunity for disabled people across Merseyside, by working in Partnership with Support and Advice for Independent Living in Liverpool (SAILL) and Merseyside Inform (MI).

Manchester Disabled People's Access Group is an organisation of disabled people promoting best practice in access design and access standards, and campaigning to improve access to buildings, transport, the environment, information and services. Their website includes lots of useful links and resources.

 Manchester Deaf Centre was originally set up in 1846 and is run by Deaf people. They provide a communication support service, training and a range of groups for members of the Deaf community.

Manchester People First is run by and for learning disabled adults and is independent of all services. They give training, support and advice to learning disabled adults and professionals, and campaign for disabled people's rights.

Liverpool Association of Disabled People (LADP) is fully controlled and staffed by disabled people. They offer a range of services that help maximise income and ensure the social inclusion of disabled people.

North West Disability Arts Forum is a Disabled and Deaf people's arts organisation run by Disabled and Deaf people. They aim to facilitate the active participation of Disabled and Deaf people in all aspects of the arts and creative industries, and both promote and celebrate disability and Deaf arts and culture.

Choices and Rights Disability Coalition is an organisation for disabled people in the Kingston upon Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire area. They are 100% run and controlled by disabled people. Their main aims are: to promote the independence and inclusion of all disabled people in society; to identify and pro-actively challenge the discrimination faced by disabled people and to encourage disabled people to work together to achieve change locally.

Sign Community is the website of the British Deaf Association (BDA). They are the largest Deaf organisation in the UK run by Deaf people. Information is available in British Sign Language or in text.

United Kingdom's Disabled People's Council (UKDPC) describes itself as the UK's national organisation of the worldwide Disabled People's Movement.

Dial UK is a national organisation for a network of 139 local disability information and advice services "run by and for disabled people".

Back to list of topics

Disabled People's Movement

Crip-stirring Culture is a grass roots web platform for sharing truths, stirring disabled people into action and celebrating activist culture.

Disability Archive UK aims to provide disabled people, students and scholars access to the writings of those disability activists, writers and allies whose work may no longer be easily accessible in the public domain.

Disability History is database of primary source material on disability activism and self-organisation in the UK from its start in the late 60's to the present day. This website is currently offline (4th April 2008)

See our website under Why We Are Here for information on the Social Model of Disability and the Principles of Independent Living.

Back to list of topics

Arts and Media

BBC Ouch aims “to reflect the lives of disabled people right here and now in the third millennium.”

North West Disability Arts Forum is a Disabled and Deaf people's arts organisation run by Disabled and Deaf people. They aim to facilitate the active participation of Disabled and Deaf people in all aspects of the arts and creative industries, and both promote and celebrate disability and Deaf arts and culture.

Nasty Girls are a comedy group of Disabled / Deaf women. Reviews have described them as "hilarious", "a breath of fresh air" and "disgusting". Their confrontational, controversial brand of humour centres on disability and attitudes towards it. They devise, write and perform their own material which has a distinctly Northern feel to it.

London Disability Arts Forum (LDAF) is a disability-led organisation focused on promoting Disability Arts and the work of disabled artists.

Extending Boundaries has been set up by The Guardian in association with the Department for Work and Pensions. It contains articles on the Disability Discrimination Act and themes from Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People.

Back to list of topics

Education and Skills                                                                                   

Disability Equality in Education (DEE) supports the inclusion of disabled people in mainstream education through the provision of training, consultancy and resources.

Alliance for Inclusive Education is a national network of individuals,

families and groups who work together to help change our education system. The changes they wish to bring about are based on their conviction that all young people need to be educated in a single mainstream education system which can support all young people to learn, play and live with each other.

Skill (National Bureau for Students with Disabilities) is a national charity promoting opportunities for young people and adults with any kind of impairment in post-16 education, training and employment across the UK.

Disability Toolkits for Success has been created by the careers service at the University of Manchester. It provides guidance and resources for disabled students seeking placements, and to academics, employers and placement providers.

Learning and Skills Council, North West Region is responsible for funding and planning education and training for over 16 year olds via five area offices.

OCR is one of the largest qualifications awarding bodies in the country. They provide qualifications to students at school, college, in work or through part-time learning programmes. This includes trainees at Breakthrough’s vocational training sites.

Directgov Adult Learning is a government site that brings together information to help adult and potential learners make informed decisions about taking up learning. It is part of Directgov - widest range of government information and services online.

Learndirect offer impartial information and advice on courses across the country. They also offer their own online courses and have a network of local Learndirect centres.

Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) promotes employment diversity in higher education. They offer advice and guidance to organisations in the sector on equality issues.

Back to list of topics

 
Employment and Business 

Equality and Human Rights Commission is the new equality body launched on 1st October, replacing three long-serving commissions: the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).

The Equality and Human Rights Commission continues the work that the previous three commissions started, but also includes other aspects of equality such as age, sexual orientation and religion or belief, as well as human rights. You can still access the former Disability Rights Commission's Using Your Rights section, as well as other resources on the Disability Discrimination Act. The old Disability Rights Commission's website can be found here.

Employers' Forum on Disability is a membership organisation of employers focused on disability in the workplace.

Employ ability is a Department for Work and Pensions campaign aimed at managers. The campaign emphasises the skills and talents disabled workers and those with long-term health conditions can bring to workplaces, helps managers feel more confident about recruiting and retaining disabled people, and gives practical information.

ACAS provide an advisory, conciliation and arbitration service for employees and employers. Their website gives information on employment law and equal opportunities.

Business Link is a business support, advice and information service. Lots of info online, including resources on recruiting and employing disabled people.

Association of Disabled Professionals (ADP) is a membership organisation aiming, amongst other things, to improve the education, rehabilitation, training and employment opportunities available to disabled people, and to influence parliament.

Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service exists to improve worker's conditions by providing employment rights advice to people experiencing problems at work, representing the interests of low-paid workers in debate on social and economic policies, and promoting greater public awareness of poverty and injustice. They have a range of factsheets on employment rights available online.

Disabled Worker's Co-operative is a not-for-profit organisation that is creating an online database of the skills, products and services that disabled people have to offer. Registration on the database is free. They also have an e-jobs portal for disabled jobseekers.

Health and Safety for Disabled People and Their Employers was developed jointly by the Health and Safety Executive and the former Disability Rights Commission. It promotes good practice in disability equality at work and health and safety risk assessment.

Point of Diagnosis has been set up by organisations working with people with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis (MS). On the 5th December 2005 it became illegal for employers and service providers to discriminate against people with these conditions from the point of diagnosis. The website is supported by the Department for Work and Pensions and explains people’s rights under the new law.

Directgov Jobseekers is a government website giving jobs and careers information from Jobcentre Plus. Search the site for local opportunities.

HRZone is an online network of 20,000 Human Resources (HR) professionals. Join for free to get complete access and receive free newswires on a wide variety of employment related topics, including latest HR policy on employing disabled people.

Disability Employment Advisory Committee (DEAC) was established to advise the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Ministers on employment issues for disabled people.

National Employment Panel (NEP) is an employer-led body which provides independent advice to Ministers on the design, delivery and performance of the UK Government's labour market policies and programmes.

Stepping Stones is funded by Manchester City Council via Neighbourhood Renewal Funding and aims to bring work focused assistance to Manchester residents who are not currently working because of sickness or impairment.

Leadership Recruitment is a unique talent management programme that provides disabled people who are graduates (or are of a similar calibre) with salaried placements / jobs and challenging development opportunities.

Back to list of topics

Volunteering

Do-it is a searchable database of volunteering opportunities in the UK.

Volunteering England works to promote volunteering as a powerful force for change, both for those who volunteer and for the wider community. Their web site offers a range of resources for anyone who works with or manages volunteers as well as to those who want to volunteer.

Back to list of topics

Benefits and Tax Credits

Disability Alliance are the publishers of the Disability Rights Handbook. Their website includes regularly updated information on social security benefits and tax credits for disabled people.

Department for Work and Pensions A-Z gives information about their benefits, services and policies.

Adviceguide is the online advice service from the Citizen's Advice Bureau. It provides practical, up to date information on benefits, housing, employment and debt, consumer and legal issues.

An Overview of Benefits (Word Doc), tax credits and allowances available to disabled people can be downloaded from the Jobs not Charity website. Please note that this information was written in 2005.

Rightsnet is a welfare rights website for advice workers.

Advicekit is aimed at residents of Manchester. It has an online advice service, advice agency searches and self help information on topics such as debt, housing, benefits, consumer rights, immigration and employment.

Back to list of topics

Government and Other Organisations

Directgov - widest range of government information and services online. Directgov has a section for Disabled People which includes information on employment; education and training; financial support; rights and obligations.

Office for Disability Issues (ODI) was launched in December 2005.

The office was proposed in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit report on Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People. It “will be the focal point within Government for coordinating the development of policy and the delivery of services for disabled people”.

Department for Work and Pensions aims to promote opportunity and independence for all, help individuals achieve their potential through employment and work to end poverty in all its forms. Their site also contains a section for  employers called The Disability Discrimination Act and you.

Department for Children, Schools and Families is responsible for children’s services, families, schools, 14-19 education, and the Respect Taskforce.

Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) brings together functions from the former Department of Trade and Industry, including responsibilities for science and innovation, with further and higher education and skills, previously part of the Department for Education and Skills.

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) is responsible for creating the conditions for business success, developing deeper and more effective engagement with business, and with the ability to promote the competitiveness agenda across critical areas of Government policy.

Department of Health aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people in England.

Department for Transport’s objective is to oversee the delivery of a reliable, safe and secure transport system that responds efficiently to the needs of individuals and business whilst safeguarding our environment.

Communities and Local Government (CLG) is responsible for local and regional government, housing, planning, fire, regeneration, social exclusion and neighbourhood renewal.

Social Exclusion Task Force co-ordinates the government's drive against social exclusion.

Prime Minister's Strategy Unit (PMSU) addresses strategic issues and promotes innovation in the development of policy and the delivery of the Government's objectives.

Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People is a PMSU report which came out in January 2005 after extensive consultation with interested parties. It has cross-departmental backing and recommends government action to ensure that: “by 2025, disabled people should have full opportunities and choices to improve their quality of life and be respected and included as equal members of society over the next 20 years”.  Breakthrough UK was cited in the report as a ‘good practice example’ and was involved in the consultation process. This citation can be found at section 7: Employment,  subsection 7.4: Connecting disabled people with work and in work support, Box 7.9: Good practice example of a social enterprise - Breakthrough UK Ltd.

To see a response to this report from Breakthrough UK’s Policy Think Tank, please visit our Publications Page.

Able to Work (Adobe PDF) is a report from the National Employment Panel. This work fed into the final Life Chances report, mentioned above. Breakthrough UK is mentioned on page 28.

Back to list of topics

Independent Living

National Centre for Independent Living provides information on direct payments for disabled people. Please note that this website is currently being updated.

 Independent Living Funds (ILF) are two funds set up and financed by UK central government. They were set up as a national resource dedicated to the financial support of disabled people to enable them to choose to live in the community rather than in residential care.

Guides to Direct Payments from the Department of Health are available on this page.

Mobilise aims to promote independence through improved mobility for disabled people.

Disabled Living Foundation (DLF) aim to help people achieve greater mobility and independence and to confront barriers excluding them from living a full and productive life at home, at work and in their leisure time.

Shaping our Lives Network has a vision of an equal and fair society where people have the same opportunities, choices, rights and responsibilities. A society where people have choice and control over the way they live and the support services they use. The website is for finding out about what service user organisations are doing and also what non-service user organisations are doing for service users.

Back to list of topics

Local Information

MerseyWorld offers information about Merseyside, its heritage, its businesses, its community and its opportunities.

Liverpool City Council pages provide a range of information about local government services in Liverpool, and links to information on life in the city.

Mymanchester provides a single point of access for community information in the areas of Manchester.

Manchester Online is an information and news portal for Manchester.

Manchester Community Forum is a forum for discussing all aspects of
Manchester life, local issues, history, nightlife, events, activities,
etc.

Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO) is the voluntary and community sector infrastructure organisation for the sub-region of Greater Manchester. Their aim is to strengthen the voluntary and community sector, build bridges with other sectors, and influence local and national policy. The website is a good source of information on the voluntary sector in the region.
 

Back to list of topics

Directories on Disability Issues

(please note that these may not be from a social model perspective, but could include useful information for disabled people)

Ableize Disability Resources Directory is a UK resource put together by disabled people. It gives information, advice and related disability links on a variety of topics including access, education, employment, recreation and sports.

Youreable is a commercial site offering information, forums, products and services to disabled people.

Back to list of topics

Research and Statistics

Disability Archive UK aims to provide disabled people, students and scholars access to the writings of those disability activists, writers and allies whose work may no longer be easily accessible in the public domain.

Jobs not Charity links to a research project carried out in partnership between the University of Sheffield, Breakthrough UK Ltd and GMCDP. The project examined disabled people's experiences of employment, and the work of organisations of disabled people to promote the employment opportunities of disabled people. The website includes a number of downloadable resources relevant to the project. The final research report can also be found on our publications page.

Disability Association Newsletters are provided to Breakthrough's Independent Employment Advocacy Centre as an information resource by the Research Institute for Health and Social Change (RIHSC), Manchester Metropolitan University, in association with the Disability Studies Association.

How Disabled People Manage in the Workplace is a summary of  the Joseph Rowntree Foundation funded report 'Thriving and Surviving' from Breakthrough UK and others. It looks at the strategies disabled people use to hold down jobs. A copy of the full report can be borrowed from our resource library.

For a critique of the way that statistics are generated about disabled people, please see the Policy Think Tank’s response to the recent consultation on questions to be included in the 2011 Census (Word Doc).

Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) supports social policy research. Research findings are available online.

Research and Statistics Gateway is produced by Analytical Services within the Department for Education and Skills. It brings together publications, facts and findings relevant to the government’s work in this area.

UK Statistics Authority is now independent and promotes and safeguards the quality of official statistics in the UK. Statistics are available on a range of subjects including the economy, the labour market, the environment, population and society.

nomis gives free access to detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics from official sources.

Institute for Employment Studies is an independent, apolitical, international centre of research and consultancy in human resource issues. It works closely with employers in the manufacturing, service and public sectors, with government departments, agencies, and professional and employee bodies. Many of their publications are available online.
 

Back to list of topics

International Links

Disability Awareness in Action is a UK based, international human rights organisation run by disabled people.

Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) is a network of national organisations or assemblies of disabled people, established to promote human rights of disabled people through full participation, equalisation of opportunity, and development.

Disability Rights Watch has links to many articles on disability rights and to international organisations of disabled people.

Disabled Women on the Web was set up to provide information, resources, and support for disabled women to continue to change the world.

Disability Social History Project is a US based community history project which welcomes participation. It offers “an opportunity for disabled people to reclaim our history and determine how we want to define ourselves and our struggles. People with disabilities have an exciting and rich history that should be shared with the world.”

European Disability Forum is a European umbrella organisation representing more than 50 million disabled people in Europe. Its mission is to ensure disabled citizens' full access to fundamental and human rights through their active involvement in policy development and implementation in the European Union.

Independent Living Institute offers resources for disabled people and develops consumer-driven policies for self-determination, self-respect and dignity. The site includes an online library of material on independent living.

Back to list of topics

If you have any comments, suggestions or would like further information about anything on this page, please contact our Information Workers at our Independent Employment Advocacy Centre.

Last checked at 04.04.08