DPO Research project: Understanding the voice, policy and organisational needs of Disabled people’s organisations (DPOs) at a regional and national level in England |
Introduction
We now have in 2020 a DPO sector and wider Disabled people’s rights movement that is chronically under-resourced, fragmented and precarious without the accessible tools or capacity to support and develop our organisations at a frontline or infrastructure level.
Since 2015 about 25% of DPOs have closed and many are hanging on by a thread. It is not just a financial crisis caused by austerity cuts nationally and locally. DPOs also face considerable challenges in developing new leaders, having our voices heard, losing contracts to organisations and charities run by non-disabled people and a lack of diversity and representation reflective of the whole disability community.
This research has been funded by the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) to better understand the voice, policy and organisational needs of Disabled people’s organisations at a regional and national level in England in 2020. The findings and recommendations will form the basis of funding applications to address the needs identified in this inquiry. That’s why your participation is so important, so we can present an accurate picture of the state of the DPO sector in England and what we need to thrive and achieve sustainability.
Since 2015 about 25% of DPOs have closed and many are hanging on by a thread. It is not just a financial crisis caused by austerity cuts nationally and locally. DPOs also face considerable challenges in developing new leaders, having our voices heard, losing contracts to organisations and charities run by non-disabled people and a lack of diversity and representation reflective of the whole disability community.
This research has been funded by the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF) to better understand the voice, policy and organisational needs of Disabled people’s organisations at a regional and national level in England in 2020. The findings and recommendations will form the basis of funding applications to address the needs identified in this inquiry. That’s why your participation is so important, so we can present an accurate picture of the state of the DPO sector in England and what we need to thrive and achieve sustainability.
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire. This survey should not take any longer than 25 minutes to fill out. We know your time is precious and we have tried to keep this survey as short as possible but by taking part you are really helping us secure the future of DPOs and our movement but don’t worry if you don’t know the answers to some of the questions – it is more important you get to the end of the survey than have answers for all. If you don’t know the answer to a question please just move on to the next one until you get to the end. All responses will be anonymised in the final report.
Your participation will make a difference!