Disability Positive

Disability Positive is a charity based in Cheshire that offers services, opportunities, and a voice to people with lived experience of disability or long-term health conditions, and their families.

It is a Disabled People’s Organisation (or DPO) which means that it is a representative organisation of disabled people: 100% of its members have lived experience of disability, and it is majority led, directed, governed, and staffed by disabled people. This

means that everything Disability Positive does is guided by people who know how much it matters.

Lynne Turnbull, Chief Executive Offer at Disability Positive said: “Many charities for Disabled people are not representative of the people they support. That’s what’s unique about being a DPO. Disability Positive like all the other DPOs across the country offer something different because the services we design and deliver, the opportunities we offer, and the way we give a voice to our clients and members is in equal partnership with people who have that lived experience.”

“It also means that we can design new services based on what we know matters most to disabled people and that when our clients speak to our staff, they know that we really understand.”

Like other DPOs, Disability Positive supports disabled people in all kinds of ways, including:

• Payroll services for disabled people who get a direct payment and pay their own Personal Assistant (PA). The charity understands how difficult and confusing it can be to become an employer and manage payroll and so their service can take all this hassle away, with a named Payroll Clerk who can get to know a persons’ needs.

• Arranging Care and Support for people who get a personal budget. Disability Positive’s team helps people to understand how to use their personal budget and support them to direct their own care.

• Supported Banking for those who may find it difficult or time consuming to manage their bank account and payments when directing their own care.

• A learning service to help both employers of Personal Assistants (PAs) and the PA themselves to understand their role and how to get the most from their care

• North West Care Cooperative which is for disabled people who want a new way of controlling their care without the hassle of managing the care themselves. Instead, they get to share safe, quality personal and social care under their control and informed by their own experience.

• Support for businesses. The charity love working with people who think like them and who want to better support their employees and customers. Disability Positive can support with things like disability equality training, customer experience audits and more.

• Opportunities to socialise for children and adults with a range of social groups. Buzz is Disability Positive’s social group for children and Good Company is for adults. All these groups offer the chance to meet new friends, try new (and often very adventurous!) things and learn valuable life skills. Some of these groups are very popular and have long waiting lists. Disability Positive can also offer carers a break from their caring responsibilities whilst their child or young person has fun doing an activity in their local community and a befriending service to support people who may be feeling isolated and need some friendly support.

• A voice to those who may need help saying what they want and understanding their rights though its award-winning Advocacy service. Disability Positive also works closely with other DPOs across the country to be the voice of its members and clients by talking to decision makers locally and nationally to influence positive change.

Lynne Turnbull continues: “There are DPOs working across all the countries of the UK, and like us they bring a unique perspective to everything they do. As we say at Disability Positive, we know it matters, because we have lived experience of disability and longterm conditions too.”

You can find out more about all of Disability Positive’s services on their website www.disabilitypositive.org

Many of their services are available across the country, or if not, there is a map of other DPOs available on their website too so you can find out about services near you.