Disability Rights UK (DR UK) is a UK pan-disability

charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

which was set up with the aim of representing the needs and expectations of

disabled people Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

in the UK. Disability Rights UK was formed as a result of several disability charities merging in 2012.

History

Disability Rights UK was formed through a unification of Disability Alliance, RADAR and

National Centre for Independent Living 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 a ...

on 1 January 2012. RADAR was formed in 1977 as the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation.

About RADAR

RADAR was an

umbrella organisation An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

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.

Activities

Campaigning

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.

Advice and Information

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 Welfare rights means the rights of people to be aware of and receive their maximum entitlement to state welfare benefits, and to be treated reasonably well by the welfare system. It has been established in the United Kingdom since 1969 and has a ...

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 Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

RADAR key

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. There are at least 9,000 toilets in the UK that can be accessed with the key. The key itself is designed with many featuressuch as its large sizeto enable users with physical impairments to use the key with greater ease. Keys can be obtained from Disability Rights UK, local authorities, and online. Unlike other sellers, all profits from keys sold by Disability Rights UK are ploughed back into services for disabled people.

References

External links

* {{official website 1977 establishments in the United Kingdom 2012 establishments in the United Kingdom Charities based in London Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom Health and disability rights organisations in the United Kingdom Organisations based in the London Borough of Newham Organizations established in 1977 Stratford, London