United Response

History

United Response was founded in 1973 by Su Sayer, CBE. She opened the first service in Tillington, West Sussex. By 1979, it was the largest provider of support for people with learning disabilities in the region. In 1983, United Response expanded to the north of England, setting up its first service in Chesterfield. In 1990, the charity started working with people with mental health needs.

Seven years later, it began implementing person-centred active support under the guidance of the late Professor Jim Mansell, CBE, who joined the Board of Trustees in 1995. In 1999, United Response launched the first of many social enterprises, a cleaning company under its trading arm, UR in Business. The company employed people with a learning disability. In 2002 the charity began working with the University of Kent’s Tizard Centre to study, monitor and evaluate the quality of its support.

In 2006, United Response ran a project entitled Mental Wealth to raise awareness of issues facing people with mental health needs as a backdrop to the then-Mental Health Bill. In 2008 the charity launched Making Money Easier – a suite of accessible resources to support people with learning disabilities access banks and manage their money.

In 2010, United Response began its Every Vote Counts campaign, which it repeated in 2015, encouraging more people with learning disabilities to vote. In 2013, United Response launched Easy News, the first accessible news magazine for people with learning disabilities.

United Response supports over 2,000 people, works in more than 300 locations across England and Wales, and employs over 3,500 staff.

Services

The services United Response provides depend on each person they work with. United Response provides 24-hour support for people with profound physical needs, or just a few hours for those who need less support to live their lives.

They job coach people into meaningful paid employment and can provide outreach support for those with a mental health need or help people who find it difficult to communicate by making information more accessible.

One of United Response’s primary support techniques is person-centred thinking: they work with each person to do the things they want to do, supporting them to communicate what it is they want.

They have also pioneered active support and positive behaviour support as ways of involving people with even the most complex needs and challenging behaviour in all areas of their lives.

Campaigns

In support of United Response's vision, they also campaign to improve the lives of people with disabilities in society. This may mean lobbying decision makers such as Members of Parliament to ensure that people's voices are heard or it might mean working directly with disabled people so that they can be more directly engaged in the democratic process.

United Response also works with employers to ensure that more people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and physical disabilities get a fair opportunity to work.

Every Vote Counts

United Response’s most recent major campaign is Every Vote Counts, which aims to make politics and voting accessible to people with learning disabilities. Currently, at least half a million people with learning disabilities in the UK have the right to vote but don't use it, due to low awareness of their rights and the complexity of the political system.

Since 2010, the charity has been working with people with learning disabilities and politicians to change this by publishing easy read guides to voting, urging all political parties to communicate more accessibly, and campaigning publicly for greater awareness of the fact that most people with learning disabilities are entitled and have the mental capacity to vote.

United Response is committed to ensuring that people with learning disabilities are able to advocate for themselves whenever possible and use their own voices to promote change. When the campaign was re-launched ahead of the 2015 general election, the charity recruited political correspondent David Allkins, who has Asperger syndrome and communication difficulties, to create a series of exclusive video interviews and special reports aimed at making politics easier to understand for people with learning disabilities.

Following the general election, United Response quantified the results of its Every Vote Counts campaign and found that 43% of people it supports with learning disabilities voted – a 10% increase on the numbers that voted in 2010. The survey also revealed the extent to which the campaign has reached out to new voters, with some 31% stating that they had voted for the first time, of which only 14% stated that this was due to age.

Postcards from the Edges

In 2013, to mark its 40th anniversary, United Response launched the creative campaign Postcards from the Edges. Through its dedicated Postcards from the Edges website, the charity invited people with, or affected by, disabilities to create postcards about what is important to them, and in the first year alone attracted more than 500 contributors. The aim of the project is to counter preconceptions people may have about disability and aid understanding, and provide those affected with a platform for expression.

The postcards have been exhibited throughout the UK, including the House of Commons, Bristol, London and Newcastle. Since its conception, the project has grown to feature several specific campaigns boards, including a general election board that ran alongside the Every Vote Counts campaign.

Campaigns Panel reports

United Response’s Campaigns Panel is an informal network made up of around 20 people it supports with disabilities around the country, plus some family members.

The panel volunteer their time to ensure the charity’s campaigning is focused on the issues that matter most to the people it supports.

Over the past five years, United Response has published reports on issues important to the Campaigns Panel, such as what good care looks like, what the government should be doing to support disabled people and the legacy of the 2013 Paralympic Games.

Fundraising

United Response fundraise for their local community-based services, run national appeals and raise money through various social enterprises staffed by people they support with disabilities.

Their yearly 4tea events encourage people to hold summer tea parties to fundraise for the charity, while at the end of the year its Vice President, Sky Sports presenter Steve Rider, hosts its annual Golf Day competition.

Awards

In 2008, United Response were shortlisted as best employer in the Third Sector Excellence Awards and highly commended for their Annual Report. They also won a highly prestigious National Training Award for the investment they make in their staff.

2009 saw the charity shortlisted in the best use of the internet category in the Charity Times Awards, while it's Making Money Easier project (aimed at making the financial world more accessible to people with learning disabilities) was shortlisted in the RADAR (Royal Association of Disability and Rehabilitation) Awards.

United Response’s Easy News (the first easy read news magazine for people with learning disabilities) received a Charity Award 2014 for Education and Training. Later that same year, its creative Postcards from the Edges project won Best Use of the Web at the Charity Times Awards 2014, where it was also Highly Commended in the Charity of the Year category.

Notable patrons

Martyn Lewis, CBE is president of United Response and was appointed a CBE in 1997 for his services to young people and the hospice movement.

The charity’s founder, Su Sayer, CBE, stepped down after 40 years as CEO in March 2014, but remains personally involved as a Vice President of the organisation. She was appointed a CBE in 2013 for her services to people with disabilities in the UK.

TV presenter and former sports commentator Steve Rider is also a Vice President of United Response.