Disability rights project receives £120k grant

Disability Arts Online has been awarded a grant of £120,000 for a project designed to create positive change by sharing the history of the Disability Arts Movement.

The money, which has been awarded from Trust for London’s Disability Justice Fund, will support three-year programme starting in January, that will develop and deliver resources, training and workshops inspired by DAM.

“Access has improved for disabled people over the last 30 years and there is now an adult generation of disabled people who don’t know what life was like before the Disability Discrimination Act,” a statement from the movement said.

“And yet, despite the advancements, there are still so many barriers to dismantle. As a community we need to understand our shared history – and the Disability Arts Movement is pivotal to this.

“Through the stories told in disability arts, we can learn how the wider Disability Rights Movement gathered momentum, created community and made real, tangible change, through legislation, and campaigns such as Block Telethon. In sharing these stories, Disability Arts Online hopes to bring the disability community together, develop pride in disability identity, and cultivate a sense of belief that change is achievable.”

Joanna Wootton, grants manager at Trust for London, said: “We’re delighted to be funding Disability Arts Online’s project as we believe it will be making an invaluable contribution to the disability movement as it will equip activists and organisations now, and in the future, to learn from and be inspired by activists, and key moments in the ongoing intersectional fight for disability rights.”