Being involved in a project like DRILL is both exhilarating and frustrating in almost equal measure. Recently the exhilaration has been at the forefront, partly because this month we move another step down the road by announcing over £1 million for another ten research and pilot projects across the UK which will help support disabled people to live independently.

The frustration is inevitable when you look at the environment organisations like ours (Disability Rights UK, Disability Wales, Inclusion Scotland and Disability Action Northern Ireland) operate in.

Disabled people’s organisations struggling to stay afloat, disabled people battling for benefits and services and a new secretary of state with a questionable track record when it comes to disability rights.

Part of my frustration comes from us having to decide which great projects don’t get the funding from DRILL they applied for – and it’s safe to say that frustration was shared by the group of disabled experts who made the final funding decisions. We needed a mix of projects which offered up a decent cross-section of geography, impairments and subject areas, and that meant that some really fantastic ideas didn’t make it over the finish line. We are sad about that and hope that some of those may find funding streams from other sources.

On the flip side, it’s exhilarating to look at the depth and richness of the projects which have been successful in their applications. People have come to the DRILL project armed with passion and experience and commitment and creativity. From researching accessible toilets (Scotland) to finding ways for self advocates to earn money (Wales) through to getting better access to the justice system for deaf people (Northern Ireland) and finding out why we don’t have more disabled foster carers when the fostering system has a huge gap to fill (England); and that’s just four of the ten successful that will get underway this year. If you want to find out more about the projects DRILL is funding, do go to the project page, which has all the details.

The £1 million or so for these new projects also marks a change in emphasis for DRILL. Up to now, much of the focus for us has been on scrutinising projects and working with organisations to help them develop their funding bids. In 2018, our focus moves to the myriad of projects and research which are underway.

We’ll see some of our early projects finish and produce resources and findings which will help support disabled people to be more independent. We’ll also see some interim results from other projects which will help us build our knowledge and understanding of the barriers disabled people face and how they can be challenged.

There are exciting times ahead!

Kamran Mallick
Chief executive
Disability Rights UK