Annual report 2022 to 2023
We have continued to put the everyday experiences of disabled people at the heart of everything we do.
We supported 3.7 million customer requests for information, advice and support last year. We did this through our helpline, our online information and advice, and our online community.
Our reach increased by 300,000 over the year before.
Improving the lives of disabled people
Information and advice
Last year, we supported over 3.5 million people. That figure is 1 million more people than the year before.
We provided this support through our helpline, our online community and our information and advice services.
Our helpline responded to 33,947 calls for support via telephone and email.
Disability Energy Support, our own dedicated energy helpline, supported disabled people to identify £744,356.71 of savings last year.
Family services
We increased the number of families we supported from 1,687 in 2020 to 21 to 2,058 in 2021 to 22.
Our Sleep Right service worked with 1,037 families to improve their disabled child’s sleep. The service also improved parents’ resilience and wellbeing.
Our national mentoring service Navigate provided support for 478 parents and carers.
Our Parents Connect support programme worked with 145 parents and carers. A further 103 parents joined our one-off workshops.
Our Activities for All service provides short breaks and activities for disabled children. The service supported 109 disabled children to access activities. The service supported 145 mainstream settings to become more inclusive for disabled children.
Employment support services
Our Employment services reached around 19% more people than in 2020 to 21.
- Support to Work reached 812 disabled people. The service helped 283 people to find paid work within 12 weeks.
- Kickstart is our one-to-one employment support programme. The programme enabled 212 disabled people to achieve their career goals.
- Starting Line is our pre-employment training programme. The programme supported 349 disabled people at the start of their journey into work.
- Working on Wellbeing supported 315 disabled people.
- We provided 134 disabled people with tailored in-work support. We enabled 30 people to find extra employment after their original roles changed.
- Career Pathways advised 402 young disabled people (201% over our yearly target). In 2022 to 23 we’ll expand the Career Pathways Programme into Leeds. This is with extra support made available by Barclays.
Campaigns
This year, we grew the number of people campaigning with us to over 60,000.
Our campaigning highlights included:
Disability Benefits Without the Fight
This campaign called on the Department for Work and Pensions. We asked them to improve the welfare system for disabled people. Over 30,000 people signed our letter. The letter called for specialist assessors to be introduced into the welfare assessment process.
Over 540 MPs received information from their disabled constituents about the campaign. 57 MPs attended Scope’s parliamentary drop-in.
As a result, MPs raised questions in parliament. They brought issues about the experiences of disabled people to the Government's attention.
Disability benefits without the fight
ITV Invisible Disabilities campaign
We partnered with ITV to raise awareness of invisible impairments and conditions. The campaign aimed to shift attitudes. It launched after an episode of Coronation Street in August 2021.
The campaign ran for six weeks and it reached 28.2 million adults. 43% of viewers reported increased awareness of invisible impairments and conditions. 43% also said they felt more confident talking about disability.
Disabled Passenger Charter
We have been campaigning to make travel fair for the last 3 years. Last year we secured commitment from Government to create a Disabled Passenger Charter.
We know it can be difficult to find information about your rights when using public transport. We want the Disabled Passenger Charter to change this. This resource will bring together disabled people’s rights across all modes of public transport.
Partnerships
We cannot achieve our goals alone. That’s why we’ve been working in partnership with lots of other organisations, including:
Get Inclusive
The Get Inclusive programme works with organisations. The programme helps to remove barriers disabled people face getting into the workplace. The programme supported 13 employers. It helped them to be more inclusive in the way they recruit, keep and progress disabled employees.
Deloitte and Career Pathways
Career Pathways is an independent careers advice service for young disabled people. The service is funded by Consulting firm Deloitte. 50 of their employees supported disabled people through mentoring, workshops, and interview preparation. In return, we facilitated sessions for their staff to discuss disability in the workplace.
Extra Costs
Life costs more for disabled people and their families. The result is that disabled people are more likely to have a lower standard of living, even when they earn the same. We’re working with businesses to tackle this.
Scope Utilities Membership
We are working together to make the utilities sector work better for disabled people. We collaborate with suppliers and network companies, like SGN and UK Power Networks. We offer support to reduce extra costs and improve services for disabled people.
Community Engagement Programme
We continued to run our community engagement programme in 5 locations across England. We did this with funding from the People’s Health Trust up to March 2022. The programme aimed to empower disabled people to take action and create positive change in their local communities.
Putting disabled people at the heart of what we do
Disabled people and their families’ experiences are key to everything we do. We now have over 100 storytellers who share their stories to make everyday equality a reality. In the last year, 82 of our storytellers lent their support to Scope projects. 55 were featured in regional and national media.
Our Research Panel has grown to include over 1,500 disabled people, and parents and carers of disabled children. The Panel helps us gather insights and develop new products and services. It makes sure that they meet disabled people’s needs.
Last year, hundreds of panellists reported on the issues they were facing during the first lockdown. This informed our wider response to the pandemic.
Co-production
Co-production is important to the work of Scope. It’s an approach we’re committed to introducing across everything Scope does.
In 2021, we launched our first co-produced public fundraising campaign, Power Up and Play. The campaign aimed to engage people in disability equality through gaming. We worked alongside disabled people to create and evaluate the campaign.
How we are funded
In 2021 to 22, we raised a total of £44.2 million. We are grateful to everyone that supports us to continue our work fighting for disability equality.
We are wholly funded through our:
- charity shops
- public donations
- work with corporate and other partners
- funding from Government Grants and Trusts and
- fee income from accessibility services
Our charitable spending
Every pound we raise is extremely important to us. We carefully plan our use of resources to get the most impact.
The net profit from our shops sales, together with other fundraising income, enabled us to spend £14.1 million on charitable activities. These support our mission for everyday equality.
This is a 23% increase on last year's £11.6 million.
The rest goes towards running our organisation, operating our shops and generating funds.
This year we invested more in our fundraising programme to recruit new donors who we could not reach during Covid restrictions.
We also made strategic investments for the future, such as improving outdated infrastructure. Our new database system will provide a better experience for the people we help and our supporters.
Pence in the pound
In 2021 to 22, for every £1 we spent, 66p was spent on our charitable activities to help disabled people and their families.
Note: In common with most similar charities, we exclude the cost of running our online and high street shops from this calculation. Our trading activities operate like other retail businesses, with costs such as rent, salaries and utility bills.
But, investing money in running our charity shops enables us to generate charitable funds. It also helps us to reach people in their communities.
Our shops are not just about income. Our shops are at the heart of their communities and support our charitable work.
They provide
- signposting to information
- support, and
- ways to get involved with our campaigning
Many of our shops also support disabled people through volunteering and apprenticeship opportunities.