EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report is one of a series of three produced as a result of research into disability organisations across Scotland and their capacity to influence public bodies. The other two reports are on the capacity of disability organisations to engage with public bodies and a guide to the resources available to support and enhance engagement.
The findings of the work that focussed upon mapping disability organisations across Scotland are summarised here. The findings are based upon a mapping exercise that identified 1,400 disability organisations, an online survey with 505 of these organisations (36% response rate) and interviews and group discussions with 87 disability organisations in Scotland. The main objectives of this strand of the research were:
- to assess the extent of representation available to disabled people, i.e. the extent to which organisations exist in different areas and for different impairments, and identify geographic and other gaps
- to identify current networks linking groups at both local and national levels
- to explore how organisations collect and disseminate information both locally and nationally
- to explore how best to share good practice, knowledge and experience amongst groups, as well as with service providers and policy makers.
Representation
Overall, this research found details of over 1,400 disability organisations in Scotland, of which 85% were operating at a local level and 15% at a national (Scottish or UK) level. Of those at a local level, 25% were a branch of a larger organisation and 23% had no paid staff.
The geographic location of local disability organisations shows that 31% of all local organisations are within the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and the surrounding Lothian's. The number of local disability organisations is not directly related to population size. A similarly high percentage of local disability groups being located within the more sparsely populated areas of Highland, Islands and Grampian.
The majority of disability organisations are impairment specific, with the most common impairment focus at a national level being sensory disabilities and learning disabilities and at local level learning disabilities and mental health.
User-led organisations are local organisations, run and controlled by disabled people. Most disability organisations describe their organisation as user led. Of those organisations described as user led, half had more than 50% of board members who were disabled people.
National organisations were more likely to receive funding from national government and from private trusts, whereas local organisations were more likely to receive funding from local government.
The primary activity of organisations at a local level was most commonly arts and sports and, at a national level, the provision of advice and information. However, the majority of organisations at national level and a large proportion at local level had multiple primary activities, for example information and advice, care and support, advocacy and self help.
Being well connected and informed
Disability organisations gain many benefits from being connected with other organisations through networks, forums or associations, including sharing information, providing a vehicle for lobbying, sharing resources, and peer support.
National organisations commonly link with other national organisations through membership of forums or networks. Local organisations also link with local and national networks, however, few national organisations link with local networks. Organisations with no or few paid staff were less likely to be members of networks or forums.
Disability organisations share information with others in a range of ways, though the range is more limited in organisations operating at a local level. National organisations most commonly share information via their website whereas local organisations are most likely to share information via meetings.