United Kingdom's Disabled People's Council

United Kingdom's Disabled People's Council
Established31 June 1981; 44 years ago (1981-06-31)
Dissolved6 August 2016; 9 years ago (2016-08-06)
Headquarters27 Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1N 3AX [1]
Formerly called
British Council of Organisations of Disabled People (BCODP)
British Council of Disabled People (BCODP)

The United Kingdom's Disabled People's Council (UKDPC), formerly the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People (BCODP), was a British council for organisations and campaigns led by disabled people for legal, social and cultural change in Britain.[1][2][3][4] The UKDPC was dissolved in 2016.[5]

Origins

BCODP was founded in 1981, the United Nations International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). Vic Finkelstein was especially keen to build 'a mass movement' of disabled people in Britain.[6][7][8]

  • "On 13 June 1981 in London a meeting was organised between UPIAS [the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS)] and eight other national organisations controlled by disabled people, plus a further five organisations being willing to be involved. Its initial name was the National Council of Organisations of Disabled People, soon becoming [BCODP]" (page 15).[6]

It was one of a new type of organisation at the time, being radically different to the established big disability charities in two ways: these charities claimed to speak for disabled people, and they were often impairment-specific (such as for blind people, for people with health condition X, for deaf people, etc.). BCODP followed the new Social Model of Disability which said that what people with impairments had in common was that they were disabled by society, not by their impaired bodies.[7]

There had been some previous pan-impairment groups of disabled people in the 1960s, but these tended to focus on one aspect, such as the Disablement Income Group and the National Campaign for the Young Chronic Sick.[7]

Research committee

BCODP linked with the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds to provide the organisation with high-quality research capacity, and in particular to support the case for new anti-discrimination legislation (ADL) for civil rights for disabled people.[9] BCODP was prominent in the campaigns and protests which led to the (flawed) Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Independent Living committee

An early focus of the work of BCODP was around Independent Living with the first meeting of this committee in 1982.[10] It started to source funding from the UK government's Department of Health for staff and events costs,[11] and established the National Centre for Independent Living (NCIL) which became an independent spin-out organisation from 2003 to 2006.[8]

Name changes

In later years BCODP went through two changes in its name and structure, first in 1997 becoming the British Council of Disabled People (still known as BCODP), and in 2006 becoming the United Kingdom's Disabled People's Council (UKDPC).

Final years

In 2014, the UKDPC's last member of paid staff was made reducent, and was then run solely by volunteers and trustees.[12]

On 6 August 2016, the UKDPC was dissolved as a company.[5] On 5 July 2017, the UKDPC was removed from the Charity Commission Central Register of Charities.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "Overview: United Kingdom's Disabled People's Council". Find and update company information. Cardiff: Companies House. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  2. ^ "Governance: BRITISH COUNCIL OF ORGANISATIONS OF DISABLED PEOPLE - 295413". Register of Charities. London: Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  3. ^ "Select Committee on Education and Skills Minutes of Evidence: Memorandum submitted by the British Council of Disabled People". The Committee Office, House of Commons. London: The Stationery Office. October 2005. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  4. ^ Cameron, Colin, ed. (2014). "The Disabled People's Movement". Disability Studies: A Student's Guide. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781473957701. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Dissolved". Find and update company information. Cardiff: Companies House. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  6. ^ a b Baldwinson, Tony (2019). UPIAS - the Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (1972-1990) - A public record from private files. TBR Imprint. ISBN 9781913148010.
  7. ^ a b c Pagel, Martin (1988). On Our Own Behalf - An Introduction to the Self-Organisation of Disabled People. GMCDP.
  8. ^ a b Hunt, Judy (2019). No Limits - The Disabled People's Movement, A Radical History. TBR Imprint. ISBN 9781913148027.
  9. ^ Barnes, Colin (1991). Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination - A Case for Anti-Discrimination Legislation. Hurst / BCODP.
  10. ^ BCODP (17 July 1982). "Minutes of the First CIL Meeting". Internal Papers.
  11. ^ BCODP (7–8 September 1984). "Notes for the Talk-In Conference". Conference Information Pack.
  12. ^ Pring, John (28 February 2014). "UKDPC 'fends off insolvency'". Disability News Service. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
  13. ^ "Governance: UNITED KINGDOM'S DISABLED PEOPLE'S COUNCIL - 1068743". Register of Charities. London: Charity Commission for England and Wales. Archived from the original on 26 October 2025. Retrieved 26 October 2025.
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Council_of_Organisations_of_Disabled_People