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We need urgent help, say charities

SOME of the UK’s major disability charities – and many smaller ones – face closure unless they get immediate Government help.

The Disability Charity Consortium (DCC) say the UK’s 14 million disabled people are being “forgotten by the Government” and “allowed to fall through the cracks”.

Vital services for people with a physical disability, in particular, have missed out on emergency coronavirus funding so far.

Consortium co-chairs Neil Heslop, CEO of Leonard Cheshire, and Mark Hodgkinson, CEO of Scope, said in a joint statement: “Providers of services are facing spiralling costs and a rapid drop in income from cancelled fundraising activities. But there are huge surges in demand as a result of the crisis, creating the perfect storm.

“Right now, we are supporting millions of disabled people who are anxious, isolated and alone. Our staff are providing vital services, information and support under incredibly difficult circumstances. Sometimes we are the only place that disabled people have to turn.

“We want to be there for every disabled person who needs us, but this could soon be an impossibility.

“Disability charities, large and small, are at risk of disappearing at the very time that disabled people need us most. Without vital funds, we will have stark choices to make about cutting services or, in some cases, closing our doors.”

The Consortium members are: Scope, Sense, Mind, Action on Hearing Loss, Business Disability Forum, Mencap, National Autistic Society, RNIB, Disability Rights UK and Leonard Cheshire.

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