Who, what, why?

The need for DAS is arguably at its most critical where the disproportionate impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the disabled has pushed a much higher number into extreme poverty. 

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Even after the 2022 peak, our crisis intervention service continues to help over 6x the number of clients compared to prepandemic levels. In most cases these clients are suffering from some degree of mental ill health exacerbating existing conditions. 

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Our Crisis Service covers a broad range of support from food bank supplies and subsistence payments through to a full background check on personal finances and benefits covering the core areas to ensure clients are receiving their full entitlements. 

As a “Trusted Partner” of Suffolk Community Foundation during 2022-23 we distributed over £50,000 in individual hardship grants to these clients from the Household Support Fund.

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Disabled people are worst off in terms of opportunities for social interaction and are subject more than others to the downside of isolation. We set up our Listening Service in response to the pandemic when a call from a friendly voice giving reassurance we were still there to help was so welcomed by our clients. In fact, it was so appreciated that we decided to keep it running. Mainly staffed by volunteers, we average 1,000 contacts a year. 

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As well as the achievements described above, we also monitor the benefit to our clients' well-being from their interaction with the service. Unsurprisingly, research confirms that improving someone’s financial position has a measurable impact on their well-being and this is confirmed by the results from our rolling Future Well-being Survey

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​The loss, or reduction, of a disabled person’s welfare benefits is the most significant factor in driving them into absolute/extreme poverty and worse. In this important context, our work has a beneficial impact in attenuating the malnutrition, unnecessary deaths and suicides that result, and our work has been endorsed by Dr Daniel Poulter, MP, also a medic with a special interest in mental health.