Transforming Sense, together: our three-year plan
This plan is also available as a PDF, as an Easy Read version and in BSL.
Welcome
“We are so happy and excited to share Sense’s plans for the future with you.
This plan is about working alongside disabled people with complex needs. It is about listening to disabled people with complex needs, including us in decisions and shifting power, so we have more control over our own lives.
We helped write this plan with people that Sense support who make up Sense’s user reference group. We spoke about what matters to us: great support workers, more people who can communicate with us, healthcare that works for everyone, affordable and accessible technology and safe homes where we have real choice.
We said: we want to choose where we live, who we spend time with and how we spend our day. We want to be valued, respected, treated as equals and have access to the same opportunities as everyone else. We are proud that so many of our ideas are part of this plan and we can’t wait to see what comes next.”
Alison Jameson
Co-chair, Sense user reference group
Rebecca Hodgson
Co-chair, Sense user reference group
Our plan to transform Sense
1.6 million disabled people with complex needs, across the UK, face disabling barriers that no one should have to live with.
From going to school and meeting friends to finding the right care and support, too many people are being denied the basic rights, support and respect that should never be in question.
This plan is our promise to change that.
We were founded by two determined mothers, Peggy Freeman and Margaret Brock, over 70 years ago.
Now, Sense is a force of 3,000 employees and 2,000 volunteers breaking down barriers alongside disabled people with complex needs across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
We deliver expert support in people’s homes, in our centres, colleges and residential services. We use our expertise to drive social change, campaigning together for a fairer and more equal world.
Wherever we work, whatever we do, breaking down barriers is our purpose. It is why we’re here.
Our strategy was shaped by the voices of over 3,000 people connected to Sense. It outlines how we’ll strengthen our services and systems so we can support more people now and create a better future tomorrow.
To do this we’re shifting power to disabled people with complex needs in all we do and strengthening our services.
We’re improving the way we work together and building a movement of changemakers to drive lasting change.
Thank you to everyone who shared their hopes, stories and ideas with us for this plan. We’re excited to work with you to make it happen.
Our strategy
Vision
A world without limits for disabled people with complex needs.
Purpose
We’re here to break down barriers alongside disabled people with complex needs.
Goals
We work alongside disabled people with complex needs at every stage of life, supporting them to be:
- In control
- Included
- Independent
Values
- We’re creating change
- We’re always learning
- We’re better together
Our transformational plan to make this happen
Change is long overdue
Every day, 1.6 million disabled people with complex needs in the UK face barriers to living the lives they choose.
Disabled by society, not conditions
From getting an education to finding a place to call home, nothing comes easy.
At every stage of life, disabled people with complex needs and their families are met with barriers, not support.
Too often, people are forced to fight daily battles just to live ordinary lives. Not because of their condition, but because of the barriers society creates.
This leaves people feeling undervalued, invisible and overlooked.
We must be changemakers
We spoke to more than 3,000 people connected to Sense.
Their message was clear: we need to be braver if we’re to lead the fight against barriers, challenge harmful attitudes and shift power to disabled people with complex needs and their families.
Our specialist services are life-changing, but they’re not enough on their own.
If we want real, lasting change we must be more than a service provider.
We must be changemakers.
The time to act is now
The world can feel heavy, but even in the most difficult times, there are real chances to build something better.
Disabled people and campaigners have fought tirelessly for decades to win vital change.
Together, we will build on this progress and create a world without limits.
A world where every disabled person with complex needs is in control, included and able to live the life they choose.
“When you really listen to us, we stop being numbers on a page and you will see we are people with our own dreams, hopes and ideas.”
Scott, Sense user reference group member and expert by experience
The work we’re going to do
1. Lead with lived experience
Too many disabled people with complex needs are shut out of decisions that shape their lives. We’re changing that.
Over the next three years we will:
- Shift power to disabled people with complex needs by embedding co-production at the heart of the way we work.
- Ensure lived experience shapes decisions at every level.
- Increase the number of disabled people working at Sense.
- Be the go-to organisation for co-production, sharing expertise and shaping best practice.
2. Strengthen our services
We already deliver expert, life-changing services across the UK. Now it’s time to strengthen them and make sure they’re fit for the future.
Over the next three years we will:
- Expand our support so we’re there at every stage of life. Offering the right help, at the right time, in ways that work for each person.
- Move our services onto digital systems to improve support and drive social change.
- Grow our support where demand is rising like youth transitions, family support, virtual support and accessible technology.
- Team up with brilliant partners to deliver programmes that help more people live full, connected lives for longer.
“Raising a disabled child with complex needs means tomorrow can feel very uncertain, but with the right support everything changes. From day one Sense stood beside us and fought with us.”
Kimberley, Harvey’s Mum
3. Drive social change
Disabled people with complex needs are still being held back by broken systems and outdated attitudes. This must change and together, we’re taking action.
Over the next three years we will:
- Build a movement of changemakers to turn action into impact.
- Amplify the voices of disabled people with complex needs to shift power.
- Secure radical policy change on the issues that matter most to disabled people with complex needs and their families.
- Use our frontline insight to influence and improve practice.
- Challenge harmful attitudes through bold campaigns and partnerships.
4. Invest in our people, processes and systems
Sense is powered by thousands of brilliant people. Together, we’re going to strengthen the ways we work together so our impact goes further.
Over the next three years we will:
- Create more flexible, accessible ways to volunteer and get involved.
- Strengthen our fundraising so we can deliver life-changing support and drive lasting social change.
- Take climate action seriously, reducing our impact and working with others to influence change.
- Build an inclusive, values-driven culture that backs learning and accessibility
- Modernise our systems and simplify processes to save time and boost collaboration.
- Provide better tools, clarity and support to help our people be the best they can be.
“When you believe in disabled people with complex needs, we don’t just speak up. We change minds. We change systems. We change what the world thinks we can do.”
Saihan, Sense campaigner
We’re just getting started
This plan marks our next chapter.
One powered by thousands of voices, rooted in our shared purpose and focused on what matters most: real change for disabled people with complex needs.
In the next three years, Sense will grow louder, stronger and more united. We’ll challenge the barriers that still hold people back.
We’ll fight for fairness.
And we’ll make sure lived experience leads the way in everything we do.
But we can’t do it alone.
We need you, your voice, your action and your belief that a better world is possible.
A world without limits for disabled people with complex needs.
Join us. Be part of the change.
We’re Sense
We’re here to break down barriers alongside disabled people with complex needs.
We use our knowledge and expertise to deliver personalised, creative and flexible support at every stage of life, no matter how many barriers someone might face.
Transforming Sense, together
We’re breaking down barriers. Will you join us?
By signing up to our weekly emails, we’ll let you know more about our work and other ways you can help, including how you can volunteer, make a donation, or support our campaigns.