Who are Spokz People?
We are a non-profit user-led organisation that improve wellbeing for disabled people and their families through our Community & Programme. We work to reduce the stigma of discussing mental health. We educate professionals to work in a disability affirming way with disabled people.
Who can we support?
Anyone over 18 who is disabled, has a chronic illness, condition of life-limiting condition and their family members.
What issues can we support you with?
We support people with issues like identity and body image; relationships and isolation; PAs, carers and dependency; self-esteem, motivation, confidence and assertiveness; resilience, de-stressing, mindfulness and relaxation; coping with being disabled by society; loss, trauma, death and support with things like pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression. We help you to use your existing skills and learn new ones aimed at resilience, growth and finding meaning in the disability experience.
Why work with us?
72%* of our members find our services helpful. This is because:
- We all have direct or indirect disability experience;
- Therapists have additional training in disability affirming ‘Purple Therapy‘;
- We work in a more holistic and flexible way compared to many services;
- We look at both a person’s impairment and all the factors that affect their ability to be a full and equal participant in society – many issues disabled people face stem from how our society is set up.
Spokz People CIC are the sister company of Spokz Ltd, run by Steve Dent, which is an online retail shop selling wheelchair & sports accessories, lifestyle equipment and sex aids.
We are also part of the Kandu Group, a group of ethical, reputable businesses, charities and services working together.
72%* of clients tell us they feel better about themselves after using our services
*based on research 2017-2021 – we don’t currently have funds or capacity for new data
What is the Community & Programme?
Our support includes a weekly live Zoom group, a forum, chat room and an interactive self-help programme that has videos from disabled people, including The Last Leg presenter Alex Brooker, disability advocate and Gogglebox star Simon Minty, and disabled influencer and Co-founder of Disability Horizons Martyn Sibley. It includes information, thinking exercises and tool kits on how to improve self-esteem, build resilience, find meaning in life and manage the many challenging situations being disabled brings.
What do you get with your membership?
- Our Community: Peer support is so important for our wellbeing and mental health. Many people living with disability feel isolated and we have many ways you can connect with other members. Whether that is by attending our weekly live Zoom groups, through our forum or our 1-2-1 instant chat function. You can share your own story by uploading videos and you can also learn through watching others’ videos, including a few disabled celebrities if that interests you. There is also the option of working through the programme with a buddy if you meet someone suitable. Our weekly live Zoom meetings vary but are always led by a qualified therapist to ensure everyone has a safe space to share. Sometimes they are informal meets where you set the topic and share and learn with other members. Other times there are themed events where we explore a section of the programme in more detail to support those members who may feel stuck. Sometimes we have special guests. Examples of topics we cover are: uncertainty and continuous change; pain; confidence and self-esteem. You can find more information on our live meetings, and the full schedule of themed events here.
- Our Wellbeing Programme is tailored specifically towards living with disability and the 12 chapters cover a range of things, from emergency support if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, to how to maintain good mental health when you feel worn down by assessments, negative comments by others. There’s the opportunity to look at your sleep, nutrition and exercise, as well as opportunities to explore finding new meaning and purpose as a disabled person or family. We use text, images, videos and exercises to help you think about what changes you would like to work towards.The programme helps you prepare for change slowly, by explaining how to set goals and how to deal with setbacks. We explore the different relationships in our lives with friends, partners, PAs and professionals and offer tools on how to manage these better. Overall, our programme is about finding belonging as a disabled person or family, improving your self-esteem, and managing those situations that drain our energy, leaving you hopefully with more time to find opportunities of joy and contentment. We also recognise that many of us have and do experience trauma and we spend some time helping you work through this through exercises and videos. There are plenty of links to other resources, websites and books for those that like to delve a bit deeper. If you feel overwhelmed, you can choose to dip in and out of sections of the programme so you can work at a pace to suit you.
Suzanne, one of our members: “I love the Spokz People model, so unique and so so needed!”
Kimberley, one of our members: “Spokz People’s support is ideal, they have a real understanding of the challenges I face day to day. It has been much more relevant to my needs than the generic NHS CBT type courses I have been directed to previously. It really identifies the kind of issues that arise through chronic illnesses. The community aspects mean you can discuss and interact with people going through similar problems and share advice and ideas and feel less alone in what you are going through. I personally have always found one to one therapy very challenging as I find it very hard to talk about how I’m finding things. This kind of group discussion gives me the opportunity to think about and explore my situation by listening to others’ experiences, without having to find the words for my own feelings. Mel, who leads the group, is a really positive person and so even though we are often talking about things that we find difficult, the mood is always positive and fun and I come out feeling I’ve had a great time (something I’ve never found with previous therapy) and I look forward to it each week. It’s really good being able to work through a programme at your own pace as well, but have the support of others to motivate you and support you along the way. I wasn’t sure about this before I started, but I would 100% recommend this to anyone.”
Testimonial – Sita’s* Story
Sita developed a chronic pain condition and kindly let us interview her about her experiences. All her videos are in the blog link here (*name changed to protect identity). Scroll down for more testimonials.
Sample of our Wellbeing Programme
Build Resilience
Ah yes, there it is. The word that society wants us to be, resilient. Underneath this is the message that disabled people must show they can be resilient to the often unfair and poor treatment in society. Often this is about the other person needing to feel less scared about their worry of becoming disabled.
This is not the resilience we are talking about. We are talking about the helpful resilience skills we can learn or build on to help resist frequent negative experiences and messages. Resilience so that our own wellbeing is less impacted.
Being disabled is at times extremely hard and challenging and we must respect that and acknowledge that there may be times when we don’t want to fight any more. At the same time, there are times when disability teaches us very useful things about ourselves and others and we may struggle to put this learning into words. [cut section….]
What word would you choose that gives you something to aim positively for? …[cut section]
We can choose to believe something else right? Just because x% of the population says something, does that mean it’s right? Or right for us? Can we question if it’s valid for our lives? Would we feel better about ourselves if we start changing what we believe? ….. [ cut section]
If we can learn to leave our comfort zone and push through the fear, we can get into the learning and growth zones where we will find more fulfilment in our lives, regardless of our situations.’
Hope and joy
Yes, there is plenty to be had. We can all find a way to live more content, meaningful lives whilst disabled. We wouldn’t be writing this if we didn’t think that was possible. We’ll talk more about this later, but sometimes a natural human consequence of living with the experiences of challenging things like disability can reduce the creative approach-seeking parts of our brain: the part that wants to find meaning and try different things to solve situations. [cut section…] This resource is about reawakening the resources you already have, building on them and exploring new ones to give you more ideas on what you would like to change. [cut section…]
Watch a bit more from our celebrity contributors:
Membership Fee: £50 a year or £5 a month (£1.15 a week)
We are not a completely free service for 2 reasons. Firstly, research also tells us that it is important for your own wellbeing that you contribute, even if a small amount. When you invest in something, you are more motivated and committed to turn up and work towards making change.
Secondly, although we receive £10,000 a year from the lottery, our running costs are around £13,000-£15,000 for all the website technology, insurance, supervision, training and writing and developing new content and resources. We are all either volunteers, on minimum wage or (for our qualified therapists) working for far less than the going rate of £50-60.
NHS services are a free option if you cannot afford £5. You may experience long waiting lists and a limited number of sessions (often 6-8 sessions) when you get there and NHS therapists rarely have disability knowledge or personal experience of disability. But it is worth trying as sometimes you find a gem of a support worker! Alternatively, there may be areas of your life that you can reduce spending for a short while? Many clients have told us they think of it as investing in themselves and once they see the benefit, they find a way to invest in longer term support.
Once you register, you will be sent an automatic welcome email with all instructions on how to use the community. Get in touch if you do not receive this within 30 minutes. You can also find a link to this email on your dashboard under ‘New To The Programme’.
30 Day FREE Trial
If you are unsure if being a member is right for you, try our free trial. Here’s how:
Select the ‘Register Here To Pay Monthly’ or ‘Register Here To Pay Annually’ button and sign up. You enter your card details in the registration and after the trial month you automatically go onto either the monthly £5 or £50 annual membership, depending on what button you select. You can cancel your trial or membership at any point by emailing info@spokzpeople.org.uk.
Free membership grants
We do not want anyone who needs our support to be unable to access it due to funds. If you cannot afford £1.15 a week, and have explored reducing spending in another area of your life to afford the membership fee, do get in touch with us on info@spokzpeople.org.uk before or during your free trial period. We have free membership grants available for those that need them. We may not always be able to offer this option if our funding is reduced in the future.
I have been a member for 9 months and the amount of helpful knowledge and support I have gained has been phenomenal. I am unable to attend many of the live sessions due to my caring duties, but some are recorded which is a bonus. The content on the website is amazing and I have honestly benefitted so much from it. I feel heard, that I have a safe space to explore, learn and share and that I am not alone. Spokz People gives me hope that I can improve my circumstances. When the whole world is pretty depressing and negative, I have found a hub of support for which I am eternally grateful. I recommend any disabled person or anyone with a close association to a disability to join. The sense of understanding, belonging and real compassion is just amazingly significant and so very useful. I hope to share more with you within the group. – Rachel, 2024
Find out more before signing up?
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Watch us on Disability Horizons TV here
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Use our Get In Touch Form
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Questions/concerns about group meetups?
Watch this video where Mel discusses common concerns. 1st Wednesday of the month, 7.15-7.30pm, facilitators are also on hand before the meet, so you can meet them in person and discuss any concerns. You can then join the group at 7.30pm or have a think about it and join another week. This needs to be pre-booked, to make sure facilitators know to jump on Zoom early. If you would like us to be there, send an email to info@spokzpeople.org.uk.
Can You Support Us?
- Raise Funds for free by shopping through EasyFundraising
- Volunteering? Do you have website skills or are you a disability therapist who can help run our groups? Tell us on info@spokzpeople.org.uk
- Donate – use the button on the right
Other Testimonials
Marie: “I’m visually impaired, don’t have personal care needs, a PA or many medical appointments. So (and I realise how ridiculous this sounds as I’m writing it!) I felt a bit of an imposter when I first joined the live groups: not ‘disabled enough’. However, now I have a better understanding of the social model, and what that really means in practice. That the biggest challenge, for all of us, is the disabling way that the world is set up. It’s what unites us. It doesn’t matter that we have different impairments, or different ‘levels’ of being disabled. I feel a real sense of shared solidarity around the challenges we all face. Recently, something clicked – I need to be better resourced: radical self-care, more time spent in places where I’m celebrated, not merely tolerated. The Wednesday wellness sessions have proved to be a real boost. The imposter feelings I had previously are no longer there. I feel I am in a safe, supportive environment, where I will be understood, and can learn and grow as a disabled person. Why don’t you try it for a month and see how you feel? It’s a nurturing space, in a world where -nurturing spaces for disabled people are few and far between.”
Julie: “This organisation has really helped me the past year to deal with the trauma I have endured. I have attended weekly group support sessions on zoom from my bed and been working through a course all about trauma when you have to have procedures, intrusive assessments and are continuously made to feel like you are a fake.”
Rachel: “I love the whole service you provide and cannot thank you enough. I advertise to everyone I know and do my best to promote you widely in the hope you receive more funds for such a vital service. Huge thanks for your support and help and compassion.”
Tina: “Since starting the programme I’ve had some overwhelming moments, but I took the time to calm down, answer the reflective questions and found how to overcome the obstacles. I realised that all the answers were within me, I just needed a reminder how to ask the right questions. One of the breathing techniques wasn’t effective for me, but the safe space and life graph exercises worked absolutely brilliantly and much better than any other thing I’ve tried before. It helped me acknowledge no matter how challenging life events were I still made progress and discovered my strengths. Working through the programme brought so much calmness for me. I will certainly go back to hearing other members experiences in the short videos once I finish the hard work with putting in the pillars for my new life. It is hard for me to focus on the videos right now because I am too anxious about what is coming after. Thank you all again for such an eye-opening Community & Programme and learning to live well with spinal injury” – Tina Ceferin
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