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, I am very pleased to be able to introduce Queen Mary’s UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) programme for 2023 and to celebrate the first year that Queen Mary is marking this important date in the Awareness and Inclusion calendar.

UKDHM provides an opportunity for us all to examine our approaches to disability and bring about a positive change in how we think about impairment and disablement. To do this, we need to learn from and listen to those within the disabled community who have helped evolve our understanding of the many facets of disability and who have fought for the rights of disabled people.

This is closely linked with the theme of UKDHM this year, which is ‘Disability, Children and Youth’. By better understanding the experience of disablement amongst children and young people now and in the past, we can better understand what is needed for the future.

This UK Disability History Month I invite you all to engage with the programme of events, to broaden your understanding and consider how you can actively contribute towards our 2030 mission of creating a “truly inclusive environment, building on our cherished cultural diversity, where students and staff flourish, reach their full potential and are proud to be part of the University”.

- Jonathan Morgan, Chief Governance Officer