Scope (British charity)
Encyclopedia
Scope is a London
-based charity
, which operates in England and Wales, focusing on people with cerebral palsy
particularly, and disabled people in general. Its aim is that disabled people achieve equality.
Scope was founded on 9 October 1952 by Ian Dawson-Shepherd, Eric Hodgson, Alex Moira and a social worker, Jean Garwood. Together, they wanted to improve and expand services for people with cerebral palsy and founded the National Spastics Society and in 1963 it merged with the British Council for the Welfare of Spastics to become The Spastics Society.
From 1955 to 1989, the society ran the Thomas Delarue School
, a specialist secondary boarding school at Tonbridge
, Kent
.
The Spastics Society provided sheltered workshop
s and day centres for people with cerebral palsy (commonly referred to as spastics at the time, despite spasticity
being a symptom of only one variant of C.P.), who were seen as being unemployable in mainstream society. The Society also provided residential units and schools, as well as opening a chain of charity shops.
The term spastic came to be viewed as a general insult (perversely, in part due to the Blue Peter
programmes following the life story of Joey Deacon
, during the International Year of Disabled Persons
, in an attempt to show disability in a positive light) and the society changed to its current name on 26 March 1994.
In November 1996, Scope AGM voted in favour of an individual membership scheme to give a voice to the 20,000 people that Scope and its local groups are in contact with every year - the first major UK disability charity to do so. In 1998, Scope individual members voted in elections to Executive Council and, since this time, the majority of trustees have been disabled people. However the first person with cerebral palsy to play a major managerial role was Bill Hargreaves, who had been elected to the Executive Council back in 1957.
In 2004 Scope launched the Time to Get Equal campaign to banish disablism, which it defines as "discriminatory, oppressive or abusive behaviour arising from the belief that disabled people are inferior to others".
The campaign had three aims:
High-profile supporters for the campaign include Nelson Mandela
, Bill Clinton
, Richard Herring
and former Prime Minister Tony Blair
.
With over 3,500 staff (more than 20% of whom are people with a disability) and an annual turnover of around £100 million, Scope continues to create independent living, education and employment opportunities for people with cerebral palsy and related impairments and to campaign for equality for all disabled people.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
, which operates in England and Wales, focusing on people with cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
particularly, and disabled people in general. Its aim is that disabled people achieve equality.
Scope was founded on 9 October 1952 by Ian Dawson-Shepherd, Eric Hodgson, Alex Moira and a social worker, Jean Garwood. Together, they wanted to improve and expand services for people with cerebral palsy and founded the National Spastics Society and in 1963 it merged with the British Council for the Welfare of Spastics to become The Spastics Society.
From 1955 to 1989, the society ran the Thomas Delarue School
Thomas Delarue School
Thomas Delarue was a co-educational special secondary boarding school in Tonbridge, Kent, England that was established in 1955 and closed in 1989. It was run by The Spastics Society and catered for pupils with cerebral palsy.-History:...
, a specialist secondary boarding school at Tonbridge
Tonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
.
The Spastics Society provided sheltered workshop
Sheltered workshop
The term sheltered workshop refers to an organisation or environment that employs people with disabilities separately from others. The term 'sheltered workshop' is considered outdated in the U.K...
s and day centres for people with cerebral palsy (commonly referred to as spastics at the time, despite spasticity
Spasticity
Spasticity is a feature of altered skeletal muscle performance in muscle tone involving hypertonia, which is also referred to as an unusual "tightness" of muscles...
being a symptom of only one variant of C.P.), who were seen as being unemployable in mainstream society. The Society also provided residential units and schools, as well as opening a chain of charity shops.
The term spastic came to be viewed as a general insult (perversely, in part due to the Blue Peter
Blue Peter
Blue Peter is the world's longest-running children's television show, having first aired in 1958. It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the CBBC channel. During its history there have been many presenters, often consisting of two women and two men at a time...
programmes following the life story of Joey Deacon
Joey Deacon
Joseph John "Joey" Deacon was a British author and television personality.-Biography:Joseph "Joey" Deacon was born with severe cerebral palsy, a neurological condition which left him with a muscular "spastic pattern", particularly arms and legs, resulting in a tendency of muscular tonus in the...
, during the International Year of Disabled Persons
International Year of Disabled Persons
The year 1981 was proclaimed the International Year of Disabled Persons by the United Nations. It called for a plan of action with an emphasis on equalization of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities...
, in an attempt to show disability in a positive light) and the society changed to its current name on 26 March 1994.
In November 1996, Scope AGM voted in favour of an individual membership scheme to give a voice to the 20,000 people that Scope and its local groups are in contact with every year - the first major UK disability charity to do so. In 1998, Scope individual members voted in elections to Executive Council and, since this time, the majority of trustees have been disabled people. However the first person with cerebral palsy to play a major managerial role was Bill Hargreaves, who had been elected to the Executive Council back in 1957.
In 2004 Scope launched the Time to Get Equal campaign to banish disablism, which it defines as "discriminatory, oppressive or abusive behaviour arising from the belief that disabled people are inferior to others".
The campaign had three aims:
- To raise awareness of the problems and barriers faced by disabled people in their everyday lives
- To demand an improvement in the attitudes and actions that disabled people experience
- To build a mass movement of disabled and non-disabled people campaigning and working for equality.
High-profile supporters for the campaign include Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Richard Herring
Richard Herring
Richard Keith Herring is a British comedian and writer, whose early work includes his involvement in the double-act, Lee and Herring...
and former Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
.
With over 3,500 staff (more than 20% of whom are people with a disability) and an annual turnover of around £100 million, Scope continues to create independent living, education and employment opportunities for people with cerebral palsy and related impairments and to campaign for equality for all disabled people.