More than £1 million for 10 new research projects led by disabled people
Ten new projects across the UK have received between £40,000 and £150,000 of National Lottery funding each, to explore how disabled people can live as full citizens in our society and what changes and support will make that happen in practice.
Over £1.15 million worth of funding has been granted as part of the DRILL (Disability Research on Independent Living and Learning) programme, a £5 million scheme led by disabled people and funded by the Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
 Each research or pilot project will be led by disabled people or people with long term health conditions; they will be developing approaches and questions, working alongside academics and policy makers. Disabled people who often struggle to have their voices heard will be shaping research – such as people living with dementia, learning disabilities and mental health issues.
Grants were approved by the DRILL Central Research Committee, which is chaired by Professor Tom Shakespeare. He said:
“I welcome this next batch of timely, targeted, transformative projects funded by DRILL. From developing new social care models to improving access to the justice system for people who are deaf, these projects address some of the key barriers which affect disabled people’s ability to live independently across the UK.”
The 10 successful projects will be led by:
England
ALLFIE (The Alliance for Inclusive Education)
De Montford University
NDTI (National Development Team for Inclusion)
Cheshire Centre for Independent Living
University of Worcester
Northern Ireland
British Deaf Association (Northern Ireland)
Positive Futures
Scotland
Edinburgh Centre for Research on the Experience of Dementia
Wales
Barod
Launched in 2015, the DRILL programme is fully funded by National Lottery funding through the Big Lottery Fund and delivered by Disability Rights UK, Disability Action Northern Ireland, Inclusion Scotland and Disability Wales. DRILL is funding more than 30 research and pilot projects over a five-year period, all led by disabled people.
For further information on the projects visit www.drilluk.org.uk