Homes not Hospitals: The Fight for Freedom exhibition Easy Read walkthrough

A walkthrough Mencap’s Homes not Hospitals: The Fight for Freedom exhibition – Easy Read

People looking at objects in glass cases

This guide takes you through Mencap’s Homes not Hospitals: The Fight for Freedom exhibition.

A video and a laptop displaying a Mencap webpage

We have also made a video of the exhibition that you can watch.

A picture of the outside of a Mental health hospital with a group of people next to it

Panel 1: What is the Fight for Freedom exhibition about?

Across the country people with a learning disability and autistic people are being kept in mental health hospitals for a long time.

Calendars with the years from 2013 to 2022.

Most of these people are kept in mental health hospitals that are far from home for years, or even decades.

One decade is 10 years.

Different pictures of people being restrained, held down, alone in a room, being attacked

They get taken away from their families and are sometimes:

given too much medicine
held down
abused
kept on their own.

A young woman in a wheel chair is being consoled by someone. The young woman has a thought bubble beside her that shows she is confused

Many people leave these places more upset and confused than they were before they arrived.

A group of 4 people: 3 are in wheelchairs and 1 is using a walking frame.

Learning disability and autism are not mental health conditions.

They are lifelong disabilities and cannot be treated.

A support worker shaking the hand of someone outside their home

With the right support people can live safely and happily within their communities.

A man with his thumbs down next to a list of red crosses stands in front of a hospital with carers and a woman in a wheelchair

How do people end up in Mental Health Hospitals?

People with a learning disability and autistic people can end up in mental health hospitals not because they need mental health treatment, but because there are problems with the care system.

A woman kneels in front of a woman in a wheelchair who is upset and has thrown a mug with liquid in it

Many people with a learning disability and autism, who can only show if they are upset, in pain or need something through challenging behaviour , are most at risk of being wrongly detained.

Detained means being kept somewhere.

Window 2: Homes not Hospitals - The fight for freedom

This exhibition shares the experiences of people with a learning disability and autistic people who have been detained in mental health hospitals, and the fight of their families to get them out.

A group of people holding up signs for change and another person is shouting through a megaphone

It has been co-produced with families who have campaigned for many years to free their loved ones and others from mental health hospitals and change the system.

A man is sitting in a room on his own with his head lowered and his arms folded.

Every person wrongly kept in a mental health hospital is away from their family.

They miss birthdays and making memories with their family.

Three people sitting around a table looking fed up

The system causes long lasting upset and worries for people with a learning disability, autistic people, and their families.

A woman on a chair looking anxious with someone looking at her through a locked door

Window 3:

Right now, there are about 2,000 people with a learning disability and autistic people locked away in mental health hospitals.

A young girl in a hospital bed sitting up looking frightened

Over 200 of those people are children.

A pen and a calendar showing 5 different years

On average, these people stay in mental health hospitals for nearly 5 years.

A picture of two calendars showing 2021 and 2031. They describe 10 years

305 people have been kept in a mental health hospital for over 10 years.

Photographs of different people being held down and restrained

In 2025 people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health hospitals were restrained over 100,000 times.

Restrained means keeping someone under control or holding them back.

People can be restrained using force, equipment or medicines.

That number includes over 38,000 uses of restraint against children.

A woman with a clipboard with the Mental Health Act on it standing in front of the Houses of Parliament

The Mental Health Act allows the detention of people with a learning disability and autistic people even if they don’t have a mental health condition.

A woman walking towards a closed door, but a woman is standing in front of her with her hands out stopping her from leaving the room.

Once someone is put in a mental health hospital it is very difficult to get out.

A picture of a secure hospital next to a list of years

There is not the right support, social care or suitable housing in lots of areas across the county so people can get stuck in mental health hospitals for many years.

When a person is in hospital, their care is paid for by the NHS .

council workers and a support worker helping someone

When a person leaves hospital the cost of their future care is usually down to the local council .

A picture of the council next to a picture of money with a no entry sign across it, and a picture of a woman being interviewed by a reporter

Many families end up going to lawyers and newspapers to push for things to happen as local councils cannot pay for their loved one’s care.

Window 4: A chain of broken promises

In 2011 a BBC Panorama programme showed the abuse of people with a learning disability at Winterbourne View near Bristol.

Winterbourne View is an assessment and treatment unit which is a type of mental health hospital.

Winterbourne View was later closed.

A man is pointing to a house with a green tick on a flip chart. Underneath the house is a picture of a secure hospital with a red cross next to it

After that programme the Government said that everyone who shouldn’t be held in hospital would be quickly moved to community -based support – no later than 1 June 2024.

That did not happen.

10 hospital beds with 2 of them in grey and 3 of them in black and white. The ones in grey and black and white have a no sign over them.png

In March 2015 the Government said they would close 35-50% of hospital beds by March 2019.

That did not happen.

10 hospital beds with 3 of them in black and white. The ones in black and white have a no sign over them

Then the Government said they would meet a 35% closure target by March 2020.

That did not happen.

10 hospital beds with 5 of them in black and white. The ones in black and white have a no sign over them

A new promise was made by the Government to meet a 50% closure target by March 2024.

That did not happen.

A secure hospital with 10 pictures of people with learning disabilities. One group is shown in black and white with a no sign over them. Next to that is a 12 month caleandar

Their latest promise is to reduce the March 2024 number of adults with a learning disability, and the number of autistic adults in metal health hospitals, by 10% each year.

A judge in a court room with a policeman and a document which says law on it.

In December 2025 the Government made a new mental health law to end the wrong detention of people with a learning disability and autistic people.

A drawing of a pile of paper with the word Plan on it and a red cross over it

This law will only be switched on when there is the right community support in place but there is no plan or deadline for that to happen.

Three people sitting with someone in a hospital bed

Map wall

Visiting a loved one in a mental health hospital can be difficult for families.

A man holding his hand out in front of him to say stop

They can be turned away at the door after traveling a long way to get to where their loved one is being held.

They can become very upset to see how their loved one is being housed.

A woman writing something down whilst standing over a couple talking on chairs

Sometimes family members are not allowed to spend time with their loved one alone and have to have hospital staff there too.

A photograph of some children with a not allowed sign

Sometimes sisters and brothers or other family members under the age of 18 are not allowed to visit.

This means families can be separated for a long time.

The families behind the Fight for Freedom

The families who helped Mencap make this exhibition, have come together over many years.

Many met after the Winterbourne View TV programme.

Two people stand together. The person on the right has their arm round the other person's shoulders.

They used to feel alone but now they stand together sharing their stories and supporting each other.

They campaign for change with Mencap and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation – two charities along with many other organisations and campaigners, that are calling for an end to people with learning disabilities and autism being wrongly kept in mental health hospitals.

A picture of a boy next to a teenager next to a man

Panel 6: Lifelong consequences

Consequences are the things that happen after something.

A boy sitting on a chair leaning forwards with his arms folded and looking as if he is in pain.

While some people get the treatment they need, others leave mental health hospitals after being abused, injured or in poor health, and very frightened.

A man and a young woman are talking to a woman with a clipboard sitting around a coffee table.

This makes the change from being inside the hospital to moving back into the community more difficult, so they need even more support and care.

A man is sitting on a chair in a room on his own and he looks sad

After a while, being in a mental health hospital makes a lot of people lose their confidence and independence , which makes going back into the community more difficult.

Someone hitting someone behind a closed door

ATU (Acute Treatment Unit) corridor

Panel 7: Brutality behind locked doors

Brutality means very cruel, harsh and violent.

When someone is put in a mental health hospital with a learning disability and autism, their behaviour can change because they are frightened and confused.

A man shouting at another man who has his hands over his ears

They can become violent and upset.

When that happens, they are more likely to be restrained or given calming medicine instead of being supported.

Person with hands near mouth looking frightened

This leads to more upset and fear which makes people more likely to harm themselves.

Seclusion room area

Seclusion means being kept away from things and alone.

This part of the exhibition shows what a seclusion room looks like.

A man sitting on a mattress looking sad whilst someone watches behind a locked door

It shows a room with:

No sheets
Bare walls
No one to talk to
Nothing to do
A locked door.

A woman sitting all alone in a room looking sad

People with a learning disability and autistic people can be put in seclusion rooms for weeks at a time.

Seclusion rooms were used 3,735 times in 2025.

The scale of restraint used against children in mental health hospitals in 2025 is very worrying.

There were:

640 injections given to calm children down
Over 38,000 uses of physical restraint on children
Over 900 uses of chemical restraints on children.

Panel 11 – Join our campaign

With your support, we can fight to end this.

Join us to campaign to bring people home.

Sign up today at https://secure.mencap.org.uk/exhibitionhomesnothospitals

Together we can push for:

•    the right support
•    the right homes
•    an end to people being wrongly locked away.

Two women have their arms round each others shoulders and hold thumbs up

Panel 13

There is hope. People can be brought home.

They can live their lives to the full.

They can get the care and support they need in their own community.

Families can be reunited.

A man shakes a woman's hand and says 'thank you'

Mencap would like to thank the families and people with a lived experience who shared their stories to make the exhibition possible.

Without them the exhibition would not have been possible.

Mencap were able to deliver the exhibition thanks to funding from OmazeUK.

A laptop showing a cursor on the screen over to the word click

Find out more about Homes not Hospitals: The Fight for Freedom at https://www.mencap.org.uk/freedom