By 'disabled people', we mean people who identify as disabled, and people who have impairments, which have a long-term impact on quality of life, and experience injustice as a result of social, political or physical barriers to participation. This is adopting the Social Model of Disability, which holds that people with impairments are ‘disabled’ by the barriers operating in society that exclude and discriminate against them.
Using the DEI Data Standard, we want to have a better understanding of who our funding is reaching and to help us identify structural inequity in our funding practice. This page shares initial analysis of data we gathered from organisations in our funding and applications we received during October 2021 to September 2022 in relation to disabled people. In the DEI Data Standard's classification for 'disabled people', they include neurodivergent people and people who are Deaf to recognise the discrimination and barriers they can face. However, the Standard acknowledges that many people who are Deaf and/or neurodivergent would not classify themselves as disabled. See the DEI Data Standard's taxonomy for more information.
Alongside our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion, we hope the data we gather will help us to make progress towards our goals - particularly in our priorities where there is a focus on improving the lives of disabled people. This includes our Children and young people's rights and Arts and creativity making change priorities in A Fairer Future.
Disabled people in our funding and applications
Charts 1 and 2 show the percentage and number of organisations (in brackets) we classify as 'disabled people' for the three areas we asked organisations about: the communities the work supports, the organisation's leadership, and the organisation's mission. It further breaks the data down by the type of disability where it was included.
The charts also show the number of organisations whose work, leadership or mission did not specifically relate to 'disabled people'. We have classified them as 'no specific group'.
What we found:
- In our funding, 9.7% (42 organisations) said their work specifically supports disabled people and are also led by disabled people. The majority of these support all disabled people with a smaller proportion supporting a more specific group - for instance, 1.9% of our funded organisations support cognitive differences. (See chart 1)
- In applications, there is a similar trend, although the percentage is higher: 13% said that they are led by and for disabled people, with the majority of these saying they support all disabled people. There is also a higher percentage of applications (16%) that say their mission specifically includes disabled people. (See chart 2)
Our funding vs applications
Chart 3 shows how our funding compares to data we have gathered on applications. Figures show the percentage that we have classified as 'disabled people' for the communities the work supports, the organisation's leadership, and the organisation's mission.
What we found:
- When comparing our funding to applications, a higher percentage of applications for each area (communities the work supports, leadership, and mission) relate specifically to disabled people. (See chart 3)
Average amount awarded
Chart 4 shows the average amount awarded in our funding, and compares the average for our total funding portfolio with funding for work specifically supporting disabled people, and funding for organisations led by disabled people.
What we found:
- When looking at the average amount awarded to organisations, those that relate specifically to disabled people were for lower amounts than the average amount awarded for our total funding portfolio. For instance, for organisations whose work targets disabled people and/or organisations who are led by disabled people, the average amount awarded was £170,648. This is 19% lower than the average amount awarded for our total funding portfolio, which was £210,824.
Our funding by aim
Chart 5 shows the percentage of our funding that we classify as 'disabled people' and the aim which the funding most closely aligns to.
What we found:
- In terms of alignment to Esmée's strategy, the majority of our funding that relates to disabled people is towards A Fairer Future. For instance, of the 42 grants awarded towards work that specifically supports disabled people, 33 (7.6% of our funding) are in a Fairer Future, 6 are in Creative, Confident Communities, 1 is in Our Natural World, and 2 are towards our previous strategy.
