2. We work with over 200 partners
in the voluntary, statutory and
private sectors
Safia’s mum had a difficult time giving
birth. For a while Safia didn’t get enough
oxygen and this affected the way her
brain and body works.
Her dad gave up work to look after her.
By the time Safia was three her parents
realised that they needed some help.
They came to AoD with very
little idea of what was available.
Our benefits officer asked lots
of questions about Safia’s
condition and their family
circumstances and helped them
fill in an application for
Disability Living Allowance.
AoD put them in touch with ParentsActive
who supported them to argue for extra
classroom support in a mainstream school.
They got an extra £76.90 per week to cover the extra
costs of supporting a disabled child and this meant they
could apply for extra tax credits.
We worked on 238 cases
securing families over
£842k per year in benefits
Action on Disability (AoD)
is led by disabled people and works across London.
For this year's annual review we decided to illustrate our work through
the life of one fictional woman, Safia. Her life reflects the experiences of
some of the 4,500 people we meet and work with each year.
When Safia was four, she was offered a place at a school for children with Special
Educational Needs. Her parents visited and thought it looked lovely and active but they
wanted Safia to go to the same school as her older brother.
2
3. At four and three quarters Safia held her big
brother’s hand as she went into school.
Safia enjoyed school but when she was 11
her Dad went back to work she had to be
bussed too and from school every day.
She didn’t get to chat with her friends after
school or join in the clubs because she had
to be on time for the bus.
She got lonely and wondered if her friends
thought she was boring because she never
did anything in the holidays.
Safia sat in the corner with her eyes wide open thinking she would never be able to join in.
The staff encouraged her to try new things and asked Jethro to look after her.
Safia heard that the AoDYouth service
ran all sorts of activities for disabled
children, she pestered her parents about
it and they said she could join.
Her first day was scary, the children were
loud and dancing about.
He had a wheelchair
with flashing lights
on the wheels, he
showed her round
and introduced her
to people.
Over 45 disabled
and non-disabled
young people
took part in our
new inclusive
arts project
3
4. 119 young disabled people participated
in sports this year including archery,
football and athletics. Some went on to
compete across London
Over the years Safia tried pretty much
everything: circus skills, canoeing, puppet
making. She learnt about healthy eating
and sexual health. She started to support
other young people, became a volunteer
and achieved her silver Duke of
Edinburgh award.
Safia was encouraged to think about her future, what sort of work did she want to do?
Volunteering as a youth worker was ok but she really wanted to work with food so she
was supported to volunteer at a local lunch club for older people.
They were recruiting
people for an
internship, they
explained to Safia that
she would work in
three different jobs in
one year at St George’s
Hospital.
Plus she could do a
college course at the
same time.
Safia struggled a bit with college once she left school. Learning things in the classroom was
difficult for her. At the same time she began to think that she was a bit old for the youth
scheme. So, they referred her to AoD’s Employment service.
When young people join
ourYouth Service we ask
about their likes and
dislikes, what they need
help with and their
ambitions for the future
4
5. We supported disabled adults to get
over £292k per year in benefits they
were entitled to and secured over
£57k of backdated payments
A volunteer form filler helped her with the claim. She was a bit shocked when her claim
was refused but the benefits officer knew the decision was wrong and managed to get it
overturned.
She signed up and found that learning on the job was much easier for her. All her
supervisors praised her attention to detail and commitment to the job. The catering
manager decided to give her a part-time job.
She went back to AoD for advice.
The benefits officer helped her calculate
her new salary and work out what benefits
she was entitled to.
Our IT volunteers
supported over 50 to
learn new skills, shop
online and keep in
touch using IT
In her spare time Safia joined
AoD’s IT Peer Support group.
The disabled trainer showed her
how to use email and shop
online. He understood her fear
of computers and showed her
some software that would help
with her spelling.
After working for a few months
Safia moved out into her own
flat.The place had a warden but
for the first time Safia could do
her own thing.
After a year the hospital had to
cut her hours at work. Safia was
very worried about her rent and
bills.
5
6. Eight volunteers supported people to
fill in benefit forms and attended work
capability assessments and tribunals
with people.
Across AoD our volunteers
contributed over 7000 hours last year.
Now that she did not have to worry
about money she could get down to
hunting for a full time job. AoD
employment staff helped her to look at
her options explaining that it would be
easier for Safia to show her cooking
skills than talk about them in an
interview.
She wrote to lots of big hotels that AoD had been working with explaining how she loved
working with food and telling them about all her experience. She got a call from a
manager who liked her letter.
She explained that she did not do very
well in interviews and asked if she
could come and show him what she
could do.
He agreed, and when he saw her work
he offered her a job on the spot. She
was glad to come off benefits.
We supported 50 disabled
people into paid jobs, most
well above minimum wage.
Our success rate is over 70%
After a few years Safia found she could
not move around as easily as she used to.
With support from AoD she talked to
her employer and they accepted that she
could sit down to work and did not have
to do heavy lifting.
At home she found getting in and out of
the bath difficult and finally she slipped
and hurt herself.
The council did not agree with her that
she needed a wet room instead of a bath.
She started to look for somewhere else
to live.
6
7. We supported 177
people to have their
voice heard, understand
their rights and challenge
service providers
To read our Chair and CEO reports of the year
please visit our website: www.actionondisability.org.uk
Our full accounts are available on the
Charity Commission website: www.charitycommission.gov.uk
Then she remembered AoD, she met with an
Advocate who helped her appeal the decision using
medical evidence.
After a few months, they agreed to get the work
done. Now she did not have to worry about
accidents at home.
After a few more years Safia’s health got worse and she decided to go back to part time
work. She found a job closer to home and just 20 hours a week. Her health improved but
Safia was a bit bored and got fed up being at home five days a week.
AoD reminded her about the Peer Support project, at first she thought “I don’t need
support” but the co-ordinator persuaded her to give it a go. When she got involved she
realised she was the one giving the support, she shared her experiences about work,
leaving home and getting help when you need it.
She started bringing in cakes to share and then asked if members could use the kitchens
at AoD to start a baking club. She notices a lot more AoD staff are around the office on
baking club days.
AoD is led by
disabled people and
our Peer Support
service harnesses
their expertise and
experience to run IT,
Human Rights, Health
& Wellbeing and
Knitting groups
7
8. Money in Income by source (%)
LBHF contracts
Lottery funding
Access to Work
Trusts/foundations
Fees/earned income
Fundraising & events
2013/14
35.8
10.4
3.1
15.8
30.8
1.9
100.0
2014/15
37.9
13.3
2.3
9.7
35.2
1.5
100.0
Youth Service
Employment
Advocacy
Welfare benefits
Peer Support
Independent Living
Access to Work
Fundraising
2013/14
33.5
28.0
10.1
9.0
3.5
11.6
1.3
3.0
100.0
2014/15
36.0
30.5
9.0
9.3
3.4
8.2
1.9
1.4
100.0
Money out Expenditure by service (%)
Finance and Funding
Life beyond barriers
Patron: Baroness Rosalie Wilkins
Action on Disability
Greswell Street London SW6 6PX
T: 020 7471 8510 F: 020 7610 9786
www.actionondisability.org.uk
info@actionondisability.org.uk
ActiononD @ActiononD
Charity no. 1091518
Company no. 4237604
8
London Borough of
Hammersmith & Fulham
Baily Thomas Charitable
Fund
Dr Edward & Bishop
King’s Fulham Charity
Duke of Edinburgh’s
Award
The Daisy Trust
Remploy
Desta
Access to Work
Contracts and earned income
Grant funding
