Glasgow Disability Alliance
GDA is a disabled people-led organisation (DPO) controlled by our 5500+ disabled members.
We are the largest groundswell of disabled members in Europe and a leading, celebrated example of a grassroots community of identity driving improvements to disabled people lives in parallel with wider changes to policies, services and society.
GDA Membership
Our free, accessible learning and events:
- Bring people together
- Build confidence and connections
- Unlock opportunities to participate, contribute, and use your voice
- Transport, personal assistance, and communication support provided
Membership is free!
Join GDA for updates on all our events and opportunities.
Our vision is a world where disabled people participate fully and lead our own lives with our human rights upheld, connecting with peers and opportunities; contributing to families, communities and wider society on a full and equal basis alongside non-disabled people.
Our mission is to promote equality, rights and social justice with and for disabled people and we do this through programmes which build confidence, connections and capacity of disabled people.
Our programmes support disabled people and those with long term conditions across Glasgow – you do not need to be a member to take part.
Over the last 3 years, GDA has transformed our delivery model to respond to the urgent and pressing needs of disabled people. Programmes are now all available online, by phone and in person.
FM announces re-opening of ILF and commends GDA members in Programme for Government Speech
GDA members welcome the FM’s announcement yesterday during the Programme for Government to reopen the Independent Living Fund on a phased approach within the next…
Read More
DPO Movement in Scotland warns First Minister that “disabled people are dying of poverty”
Disabled People’s Organisations in Scotland wrote to the First Minister on the 4th September 2023, to urge him to use the new parliamentary session to…
Read More
Commission warns of crisis for disabled people’s rights
The Scottish Human Rights Commission, together with a coalition of Scottish Disabled People’s organisations, including GDA, warns that disabled people are experiencing ‘unrelenting attacks on…
Read More
Browse our resources
DPO Movement in Scotland Letter to First Minister warns that “disabled people are dying of poverty”
PublicationDisabled People’s Organisations in Scotland wrote to the First Minister on the 4th September 2023, to urge him to use the new parliamentary session to reset his relationship with disabled people and our organisations.
More importantly, we asked the First Minister in Scotland to prioritise disabled people in Scotland by asserting his leadership to drive forward an Immediate Priorities Plan to tackle the poverty and inequalities which are blighting lives, eroding rights and leading to poorer life outcomes for disabled people, including dying in higher numbers.
The letter was written by GDA and supported by Inclusion Scotland, Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living, Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living, Self-Directed Support Scotland, People First Scotland and Disability Equality Scotland.
The First Minister must use the new programme for government as an opportunity to show his commitment to prioritising disabled people in his policies and tackling the rife poverty and inequalities we are facing.
Download Now
New Podcast Episode – Disabled People in Glasgow Call for Radical Reform in a National Care Service to End Social Care Crisis
PodcastToday, Glasgow Disability Alliance launches the second in a three episode series ‘Care About Us’: A podcast made by disabled people about the social care system and how it needs to change.
In Episode Two, ‘A System in Crisis’, we speak to GDA members & activists about the social care staffing crisis, cuts to care and the reality of social care in Glasgow.
Listen Now
Disabled People’s Podcast calls for Radical Reform in Social Care in Glasgow
PodcastToday on the 75th anniversary of the NHS and in the context of a new deal between Scottish Government and Local Government, Glasgow Disability Alliance launches the first in a 3 episode series ‘Care About Us’: A podcast made by disabled people about the social care system and how it needs to change.
Now more than ever, we need the Scottish Government and Local Authorities to start prioritising disabled people, embed equalities in their approach and listen to us as a community of identity.
GDA Member, Paula: “It’s a nightmare really. I wish I didn’t have to have carers, but I don’t have a choice. It’s degrading. Completely degrading”.
GDA Member, Luke: “The media, the public, they all think of us as a burden.”
In the new podcast series, GDA members and activists in Glasgow tell us what social care means to them, what the main issues are in social care and how it needs to change.
With £21 million cut to social care support in Glasgow in March, a delayed National Care Service Bill and a new agreement between Local Authorities and Scottish Government threatening ring-fenced, protected funding for social care, disabled people cannot be ignored anymore.In the current social care system, disabled people are facing: rising care charges, slashed care packages, inhumane and often cruel treatment and a system that is unable to uphold basic human rights.
The social care system in its current form is too broken and fragile to meet the real needs of disabled people in Scotland.GDA Member, Rosie: “Change is on the horizon in Scotland and disabled people are calling for national reform to overhaul the broken social care system”.
Dr Richard Brunner, University of Glasgow “It’s all very well saying people need to get out of bed and eat, but it’s a question of what you want to get out of bed for and having something meaningful to do with your day”.
GDA Members are urgently calling on the Scottish Government and Local Authorities to overhaul the current social care system to meet need and uphold disabled people’s human rights by:
• Improve resources for social care – including better wages, training and opportunities for care staff
• Scrap all care charges
• Re-open the ILF
• Overhaul eligibility criteria to focus on need, not the constraints of budgets
• Produce and deliver national standards and accountability to improve the quality and consistency of care delivered locally: empower leaders and social work professionals to develop a new culture based on upholding human rights.
• Provide flexible care that meets our needs and supports us to live the life we want to liveTressa Burke, Chief Executive of GDA: “Disabled people have been deprioritised throughout the pandemic and now through post pandemic planning, despite dying in the highest numbers. The New Deal between the Scottish Government and Local Government and the potential removal of ring-fenced funding for social care is another nail in the coffin for disabled people’s life opportunities unless rapid actions are taken.
Increased investment for social care is urgently needed along with accountability and interventions when things go wrong: disabled people need protection and investment in social care that upholds our human rights”.
Angela Mullen, Chair of Glasgow Disability Alliance’s Board: “People are already not able to shower regularly, use the toilet or go to bed when they want.
“People’s basic needs must be met but we also want to have a social life, to have hobbies and be involved in our communities and actually live our lives”GDA members are speaking out, sharing their lived experience of social care and amplifying their voices to call for the change needed to fix the broken care system.
Listen Now
