An organisation which has supported more than 14,000 disabled people in Scotland and Northern Ireland to live independent lives has this this summer celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland was set up in July 2015 to provide additional support to disabled people to maximise self-directed support.

Recipients, carers, personal assistants, advisory group members and public sector and not-for-profit partners came together in Edinburgh earlier this summer to reflect on 10 years of ILF Scotland, sharing stories on how the organisation has supported them to live with purpose, dignity and independence.

Among the speakers was the Chair of the ILF Advisory Group and disabled activist, Dr Jim Elder-Woodward.

He told the event:

“ILF Scotland enables people to wake up in the morning to a purposeful day, be that going to a football match, a college, or a job.

“A purposeful life is one in which the person can choose and organise what they do, where they go, and who they meet. But to have a purposeful life, people need to be supported by a purpose-led organisation. And that’s what ILF Scotland is –  an organisation in unison with disabled people and their right to independence and participative citizenship.

“It is a breath of fresh air to trust such a trustworthy organisation as ILF Scotland. As we celebrate its 10th anniversary, we should be proud of having such a purpose-led organisation. It is a bright beacon, shining the way to purposeful lives for disabled people.”

The ILF Fund – which used to be distributed by a UK body – was closed to new recipients in 2010; the responsibility for administering funding for existing ILF recipients in Scotland and Northern Ireland was transferred to ILF Scotland five years later.

Following years of campaigning from disabled people’s organisations, the ILF Fund partially reopened to new applicants in Scotland last year.

The Scottish government made £9m available in 2024-25 to allow up to an additional 1,000 disabled people with the most complex needs to access extra funding.

Scotland is now the only country in the UK offering ILF payments to new applicants.

Several new recipients and their guardians and carers spoke at the celebration event about the difference the fund has made to their lives.

Sophie Dow, the mother of young artist Annie Dow, told the gathering that funding from the ILF has enabled Annie to attend arts and craft classes which were previously out of reach – and begin planning for her first holiday without her parents.

Sophie said of her first meeting with ILF staff and the support that followed:   

“It was a meeting full of enthusiasm, new ideas, collaboration and lots of laughter. Indeed, it was a meeting where we looked at what could be done, instead of what couldn’t be done.

“Thanks to ILF, Annie can now go to ArtLink in a taxi on Fridays. She has been awarded a full day at Upward Mobility on Wednesdays, where she attends an arts and crafts class and is part of a community of chums. And finally, ILF pays for six added hours of support to be used flexibly, which will enable us to start planning a week’s holiday for Annie without her family but with support. Independence, flexibility and dignity indeed. “

In its 10 years of operation, ILF Scotland has distributed more than £500m to recipients across Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Research suggests each £1 of ILF funding has generated around £13 in wider community and social value in Scotland.

Alongside the ILF Fund, ILF Scotland also delivers the Transition Fund, which provides up to £4,000 to help young disabled people become more active in their communities, and the Technology Grant, which targets digital isolation faced by young people.

Both funds are only available to young people living in Scotland.

A celebratory event to mark 10 years of ILF Scotland was also held in Northern Ireland.

The Chief Executive of ILF Scotland, Peter Scott OBE, said being part of ILF Scotland has been the “greatest privilege” of his professional life:

“We’ve honoured ILF Scotland as an organisation, built on the principles of the social model of disability, of co-production, and of trust, and I hope we have also honoured a movement – the independent living movement, of which ILF Scotland is proud to have played its part, and made its contribution, alongside disabled people and their organisations.

“I’ve had the honour of witnessing first-hand the transformative impact our work has had – not just in the lives of individuals by supporting disabled people to overcome the barriers they face to independent living , but in families, in communities, and across the wider system of social care support.“

Read more: Independent Living Fund reopening moves forward; Independent Living Fund to reopen next year; ILF: “We stand ready to reopen”;

 

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