Fundraising allows us to create sustainable change for people with a learning disability

At Mencap, fundraising is vital in helping us make the UK the best place in the world for people with a learning disability to live happy and healthy lives. Whether through regular givers, event participants, corporate partners, legacy donations or trusts and foundations, the money we raise allows us to create sustainable change.

Fundraising income is essential in enabling us to break down the barriers people with a learning disability face daily, such as struggling to get a paid job, not knowing where to turn for advice, feeling isolated and not receiving the right care.

Below you'll find some of the important examples of the impact our fundraising income has for people with a learning disability:

Running our information and advice service

This includes our helpline in England, which, per year, provides specialist advice and information to over 8,000 people with a learning disability and their families and carers. In a world where accessible information is often unavailable, this service is invaluable.

Man sitting at computer wearing a telephone headset

Continuing our vital campaigning work

Our campaigning work to champion the rights of people with a learning disability, including:

  • Successfully influencing the government to make crucial changes to the Mental Health Act, to prevent people with a learning disability being wrongfully detained in mental health institutions, where they can be treated terribly.
  • Promoting the learning disability register to ensure people with a learning disability are getting the healthcare they’re entitled to, and any reasonable adjustments they need.
  • Successfully campaigning to grant people with a learning disability priority access to lifesaving COVID vaccinations. 

Find out more

Conducting research

Research to help us understand the greatest issues people with a learning disability are facing, including:

  • Our Big Learning Disability Survey, where people with a learning disability shared their experiences of everyday life and let us know what mattered most to them, such as getting a paid job, having more personal support and tackling discrimination .
  • Research with the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTI) that helps us understand what people with a learning disability want when it comes to work, and why so few people with a learning disability can access or maintain paid work.

Delivering programmes

Delivering programmes that support with employment , family support, wellbeing, staying active and creating a sense of community . This includes:

  • Our programmes delivered to young people in schools, providing introductory support to employment and employability skills and setting aspirations, which is vital when we consider people with a learning disability have the lowest employment rate for any health condition or disability in the UK.
  • Our Family Support services in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, which empower parents to demand the right support for their children, and guide and advise them in parenting their children with a learning disability.
  • Our programmes where volunteers with and without a learning disability get involved in activities including designing and creating a sensory community garden, planting trees and making nutritious meals. This helps people feel connected to their local community while having fun.

Find out more

Running our Network Partner office

The Network Partner office enables us to help our network of over 300 affiliated groups to support people with a learning disability in communities across the UK. 

An image of all the members of the community engagement team, from the Network Office, posing and smiling together.

Thanks to fundraising, from April 2023 - March 2024:

27

New families with loved ones in inpatient mental health hospitals, or at risk of admission, have been supported.

£225,000

of funding was awarded to Access Social Care to provide legal support.

323

press articles were created which generated media coverage on social care, healthcare, employment, our Homes not Hospitals campaign, and the cost of living.

8,078

enquiries were answered via our information and advice service.

1,972

people contacted us via our Big Learning Survey in 2022 - over 300 more people than the previous survey.

149

Parents, across London, Northern Ireland and Wales, took part in our eight-week programme that provides support for those caring for young children with a learning disability.

The impact of fundraising: Stories from across the UK