WinVisible (women with visible & invisible disabilities) is a multi-racial grassroots group based on collective self-help. We bring together women with various disabilities: polio, sickle cell anaemia, osteo-arthritis, visually impaired, mental distress, cancer . . . from different backgrounds: asylum seeker, refugee, immigrant and UK-born, and some of us are lgbtqi+.
In WinVisible, we meet and support each other, overcome isolation and discrimination, and often win what we are entitled to.
Volunteers are welcome -- come in to work together at the Crossroads Women’s Centre or remotely from home.
Contact us to find out more, and how you can get involved.
Our self-help benefits and cost of living information helps many people to win or continue our disability benefits, get cash help with energy bills, to defend ourselves against benefit sanctions, Council Tax bills, to know our rights as Council and private tenants, and access our community care rights as disabled asylum seekers and immigrants. We support disabled women to get homecare charges reduced and arrears written off, and can also help you with accessing social care support, health and accessible transport services.
Together we tackle many different problems. We defend ourselves against discrimination of all kinds, including as immigrant disabled women, claimants denied benefits, mums who face having our children taken away because we are seen as ‘unfit’ mothers, and discrimination by employers.
We campaign on many issues, from benefit rights to independent living, the Disabled Mothers’ Rights Campaign, against violence and abuse, on climate and environment, transport access. We often speak at events and hold workshops on Zoom and in person — contact us if you are interested in having a joint workshop hosted by your group.
Coping with disability and ill-health is hard work. Many disabled women are mothers and carers for elderly relatives and others in the community. We support the Global Women’s Strike call for a Care Income for everyone doing caring work for people and planet. Like other women, disabled women want recognition that our caring work, for ourselves as well as others, is vital to society. A living wage and decent conditions for care and support workers, enables respectful relationships and prevents neglect and abuse.
Thank you to our funders:
