UK Disability History Month

Disability affects us all. Whether we are disabled ourselves, are the parent or carer of a disabled person or we work or study alongside a disabled colleague or friend.

Did you know:

• There are 16 million disabled people in the UK
• 11% of children in the UK are disabled
• 21% of working age adults in the UK have disabilities
• More than 90% of disabilities and long term conditions are not immediately visible
• 17% of disabilities are present from birth. 83% are acquired during the course of someone’s life
• Many disabled people are themselves carers for others, with 27% of carers who completed Carers UK’s ‘State of Caring’ survey in 2022 saying they had a disability
• At Queen Mary, 5% of our staff and 9% of our students have shared that they have a disability.

Queen Mary University of London seeks to be the most inclusive university of its kind, anywhere, by 2030. We are proud to be a university that opens the doors of opportunity to anyone with the potential to succeed. Queen Mary's work to create an inclusive environment for our disabled staff and students is underpinned in our People, Culture, and Inclusion Enabling Plan.

"As Chair of the University’s Disability Inclusion Action Group (the University-level group that has strategic oversight of disability inclusion), I am delighted to introduce Queen Mary’s UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) programme for 2024.

Last year, we marked UKDHM for the first time as an institution and this was a reflection of the increased focus we had placed on progressing disability inclusion at Queen Mary.

Since then, I am very proud that this work has continued to accelerate and that we have made advances in several areas, including the formalisation of our Staff Disability Network and the reporting of our Disability Pay Gap for the first time.

This year’s UKDHM theme is ‘Disability, Livelihood and Employment’. It draws attention to the factors influencing the employment of disabled people now and in the past, as we seek to illuminate a more equitable way forward.

At Queen Mary we are committed to becoming the most inclusive university of our kind, anywhere, as set out in our Strategy 2030. We want to create an inclusive environment for work and study, which celebrates diversity and enables and empowers people with disabilities to thrive.

This UKDHM I invite you to explore our programme of events, to listen to and engage with the members of Queen Mary’s disabled community that will be platformed and to consider how you can also contribute to creating a truly inclusive environment, that benefits everyone and enhances our collective ability to innovate, collaborate, and succeed."

Jonathan Morgan, Chief Governance Officer