Our History

For over 40 years we have helped change the lives of tens of thousands of people within the Bradford District. Our history is an important part of who we are and is the reason we have such a wide depth of knowledge today.  We started out as three separate charities before coming together in 2015 to form Equality Together as it is known today.  Read on for a more in-depth breakdown of our history…

The First Volunteers

In 1979, laws surrounding disability rights and inclusion were ambiguous at best and disabled people faced a lot of inequality and discrimination.  Fed up with the way things were, five volunteers formed the Action Group for Disabled People.

The aim of the group was to come together to help educate and provide a platform for other disabled people in their communities.

In 1976, the United Nations’ General Assembly proclaimed 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). It called for a plan of action at national, regional and international levels, with an emphasis on equalisation of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities.

1981 also marked the year that the Action Group for Disabled People became Disability Information and Advice Line Bradford (DIAL). DIAL was run by a group of volunteers and focused on arming people with knowledge and information about benefit entitlements, rights, and where to find the right support.

In 1988 DIAL became a registered charity.  By this point our volunteers had become experts in their fields and were already becoming a leading voice of disability within the Bradford District.  The tapestry in the image adjacent represented some of the different areas of specialism within DIAL.  We can see representations for accessibility, mobility, advice and inclusion.  These are the same values we hold intrinsic to our work to this day.

In 2001 DIAL became Bradford Disability Services Ltd but was better known by the name of Disability Advice Bradford and Disability Equipment Bradford (DAB/DEB).

1989 marks the year in which Bradford Alliance on Community Care (BACC) was set up. ⠀

It was created by community and voluntary groups and organisations to strengthen the voices of community care service users and carers in the planning of health and social care across the Bradford District.

BACC campaigned tirelessly for the involvement of older people and disabled people as core to the development of effective public policy. ⠀

BACC supported several user groups which we still work with today as part of our group advocacy department.

Contact Peer Support became a registered charity on 1st April 1999.  It had begun four years previously as a project run by the Bradford & District Coalition of Disabled People before branching off and becoming its own independent organisation. ⠀

Contact was a support service run by, controlled by and made for disabled people. ⠀

Contact recognised the power in disabled people receiving support from other disabled people.  This challenged the stereotype of disabled people always needing, and not being able to offer support themselves.  Contact recognised that this does a disservice to all disabled people and decided to work together to break this cycle of assumption. ⠀

Contact offered high quality training to volunteers who could then offer regular peer support to people across the district.  These initial values helped shape the way the peer support service worked at Equality Together.

2011 was the time things started changing quickly for Disabled People Led Organisations (DPOs). ⠀

At this time a number of DPOs were closing their doors permanently each year, and we knew then that it was time to act.⠀

Six district-based organisations started working together to support disabled people, carers and their families.  These were DAB/DEB, Contact Peer Support, BACC, Able All, Bradford Talking Media (BTM) and Keighley Disabled People Centre.

Following on from our initial partnership with six organisations a couple of years before, DAB/DEB, BACC, Contact Peer Support and Able All went on to form a new project. ⠀

The Ideas For All project started in 2013.  It was starting to become a regular occurrence to see DPO charities and organisations fold as the government continued to reduce expenditure locally, regionally and nationally.  Local Authorities and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) were being forced to make more and more cuts to front line services whilst also seeking other alternative methods of service provision and delivery.  The consortium of groups involved with the Ideas for All project recognised this and realised it was time to adapt to survive. ⠀

They applied for and were successful in securing over £200,000 of funding to provide services together for the 2014/2015 financial year. ⠀

The partnership worked to enhance the daily lives of people with disabilities, carers, their families and the wider community by delivering a varied range of support services, activities and solutions.

2015 is the year of Equality Together. ⠀

Sparked by the consortium formed for the Ideas for All project, Equality Together was created.  BACC, Contact Peer Support and DAB/DEB having watched DPOs close both locally and nationally, realised the importance of being stronger together. ⠀

Equality Together’s logo is made up of our parent organisations’ branding colours as a homage to where we have come from.  Contact Peer Support gives us our yellow hue, BACC gives us our dark red, and DAB/DEB gives us our vibrant blue.  The black and white represents cultural diversity. ⠀

Together we continue to work to challenge disabling barriers. ⠀

In 2017, we were lucky enough to acquire the amazing premises we have today.  Manningham Mills Community Centre is in Listers Mill.  If you’re from Bradford you’re bound to know it as it dominates the skyline from many areas and is a huge piece of our city’s history.

[Insert picture of Manningham Mill] ⠀

Listers Mill represents our new start as a charity, a space for us to grow and develop, build our offerings and help more people than ever.  Our centre offers a safe and social hub for people to drop in for support, a chat, a meeting, advice on aids and equipment and other issues, or even just a quick coffee and food in our café. ⠀

From all of us here, THANK YOU for your continued support.