Our Annual report for the year ending 31 March 2024.

We provided disabled people with information, support and advice. 

Over 4 million disabled people were supported through our services, our online advice and online community forum. That's almost 300,000 more people than the year before.   

We proudly launched our ambitious new strategy, An Equal Future.  

We worked with 450 disabled people, volunteers, and trustees to create this vision. It sets out our mission to transform society over the next decade. 

We raised awareness of the devastating impact that the cost of living crisis is having on disabled people.  

We amplified the voices of disabled people in media and policymaking. Our Disability Price Tag report and campaign for discounted energy bills received significant attention from the media and Members of Parliament (MPs). And our Cost of Breathing Crisis TV advert reached 10 million people, successfully increasing public knowledge that life costs more if you’re disabled and signposting people to Scope’s services. 

We supported people to manage extra costs. 

Our Disability Energy Support service provided information, advice and support to 40,883 customers. And we identified an estimated £3.4 million in energy savings for disabled people through our Disability Energy Support with Water service. 

We supported disabled families. 

1,556 families received tailored advice, information and emotional support from our family services team. 

We campaigned for inclusive and accessible playgrounds.  

We called for local authorities to work with families to create inclusive playgrounds. So that every disabled child can play. 

Scope campaigners assessed 1,004 local playgrounds to create the Playground Accessibility Map. The interactive map helps parents and carers to see whether a playground might be accessible and inclusive for their child. 

In July 2023, the Government began a consultation on providing guidance for inclusive playgrounds. A win for Scope campaigners. 

We empowered local people to create change in their communities. 

More than 5,000 disabled people actively created meaningful change in their local areas. They did this through participation in our community engagement projects and youth community collectives.  

We worked to close the Disability Employment Gap.  

We supported 461 disabled people in finding jobs and an additional 2,417 to develop their skills through education and volunteering opportunities.  

We continued our partnership with Deloitte, helping 5 million people to get to where they want to be through access to education and employment.  

Deloitte’s employees provided vital support through fundraising and volunteering. This included working directly with young disabled people during their transition from education to employment. 

Our Workplace Retention report explored the reasons that disabled people are more likely to leave their jobs. 

It offered our recommendations to government and employers on how they can better support disabled employees. 90 employers, policy makers and MPs joined with us at an event to discuss the findings. 

Our pioneering What Works research explored how media campaigns can improve attitudes towards disabled people. 

We worked with Paralympics GB to share our findings. And with disability campaigners and the creative industry. We set out clear recommendations too. Our findings were referenced in a Parliamentary debate. 

In 2023 to 2024, we raised £47.2 million, an increase of 7% compared to last year. 

We are funded through: 

• charity shops 
• public donations 
• corporate partnerships 
• government grants and fees 
• trusts and philanthropy. 

We are focused on diversifying our income to maximise our impact for disabled people now and in the future. 

2023 to 2024 was a significant year of investment for Scope. This year, we have continued with our planned projects to increase our impact, increase our ability to grow our income in the future and improve our efficiency. 

Our largest investments included: 

• recruiting new fundraising supporters and improving our supporter experience 
• creating our new Leeds Community Hub 
• refurbishing and opening new shops 
• refreshing our brand. 

This investment will generate future income, reach more people and help us to continue making an impact. 

There are 16 million disabled people in the UK and we’re still not treated equally in society. It is time for this to change. We want to make disability equality impossible to ignore. 

We will continue to focus on our strategy, An Equal Future. And the 3 goals it sets out. These goals are based on things that disabled people tell us matter most to them:  

• transforming attitudes 
• ending the disability price tag 
• closing the disability employment gap. 

We will continue to make sure that all our work is created with disabled people, for disabled people.  

We will work with more disabled people to co-create content. And we will ensure that our EDI principles are at the heart of everything we do. We want to better reflect the diversity of the whole disabled community so that all disabled people can identify with Scope and feel represented. 

We want to improve attitudes to disability in the workplace and close the disability employment gap for good. 

Since the end of the financial year, we’ve proudly acquired PurpleSpace Limited. PurpleSpace is the world’s only networking and professional development hub for disabled employees, networks, and resource groups. With a network of over 4,000 leaders across 56 countries, we’re excited to join forces. Together, we can drive even greater change for disabled people in the workplace.

Creating inclusive spaces for collaboration. 

This year, we also launched our new Leeds Community Hub, a space for local disabled people, organisations, and businesses to come together. The Hub aims to set a benchmark for what truly inclusive community spaces can achieve. 

Building a movement for social change. 

We know we can’t achieve societal change alone. We are part of a diverse movement of disabled campaigners, allies and organisations demanding change. Our refreshed brand will help us to reach more people, make new connections and build a movement for social change.