We are now three weeks into our exciting partnership with Omaze and I want to thank those of you who have taken part so far. Not only will you have the chance to win a life-changing prize, you're also helping us raise vital funds to invest into our campaigning work, so we can continue to break down the barriers that the 1.5 million people with a learning disability face across the UK - this is the really important bit!

I am passionate about ensuring everyone with a learning disability is seen for all that they are and everything that they can be. But unfortunately, this is currently not always the case.

The impact of health inequalities

The facts are clear: People with a learning disability die on average up to 23 years younger than the general population.  

The most recent NHS funded Learning Disability Mortality Review report said people had died avoidably in 42% of the cases it investigated. For the rest of the population, that figure is 22%.  

Treatable conditions, like infections and constipation, unnecessarily play a part in people with learning disability dying prematurely. This is simply unacceptable.  

A lack of awareness, reasonable adjustments, and actionable conversations with people with a learning disability, family members or care staff, are all factors that create huge barriers to accessing good quality healthcare. We know all of this because we work with thousands of people with a learning disability day in, day out. 

What we're doing about it

Mencap works tirelessly to improve this situation, through campaigning and influencing at the highest levels of the NHS, as well as by providing direct support for people with a learning disability and their families.

Our helpline offers guidance on a range of issues, including healthcare concerns and queries, as well as onward referral for legal advice and support; whilst our HealthUnlocked online community platform allows families with shared experiences to come together for peer support.  

We strive to develop innovative projects such as Rachel’s Voice, a joint initiative with FieldFisher solicitors, which is aimed at providing access to legal support for families of people with a learning disability who have died avoidably in a health setting.

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism is one vital way of raising the level of awareness of learning disability among healthcare professionals and the changes to practice needed, especially as trainers with lived experience are an integral part of how the training is delivered.  

Julie and Caroline's story

Read Julie and Caroline’s story to understand why our work to stamp out the inequalities in healthcare faced by people with a learning disability is so important and how your entry into the Omaze prize draw can make a difference.   

Read their story  
Two women next to each other in a garden. Caroline on the left has a black top and is sitting in a wheelchair. Her sister, Julie, on the right, wears white and is looking at Caroline and smiling.

How our Omaze partnership will help

Our partnership with Omaze, and their incredibly generous minimum £1 million donation from their Yorkshire House Prize Draw, will enable us to continue to work towards a world where health inequalities are eradicated, and people with a learning disability have to the same quality of physical and mental healthcare as everybody else.  

This is just one of the areas of focus of the vital campaigning work we have been delivering for over 75 years and I am incredibly grateful to Omaze for ensuring we have the financial support necessary to break down the stigma and barriers people with a learning disability face every day.  

So please do enter here to take part in this incredibly important prize draw!