Our Scope partnership

Disabled people are twice as likely to be unemployed* despite the fact that there are more than 1 million who can work and want to work. Our research also shows disabled people, on average, are forced to apply for 60% more jobs than non-disabled people.

We think this needs to change.

Together with Scope, we want to break through the barriers that disabled people face in getting into work - whether they are physical, procedural or attitudinal. We’re doing this through three areas of focus.


Funding Scope’s digital support service

We’re funding Scope’s new digital employment support service Support to Work, with an ambition to reach one million disabled people with employment information, advice and support by the end of 2020. That’s to help them get into work, stay in work and realise their career ambitions.


Improving the experience of our disabled employees and customers

After working with Scope to look at our workplaces, policies and practices, we’re taking steps to better understand and transform how we support our disabled employees. Like the training we give to managers to support disabled colleagues, the employee networks we set up, as well as access to buildings and practical measures such as reasonable adjustments and the time it takes us to deliver them.

We’ve also taken a number of actions to improve the experience of disabled customers, including increasing training for staff so they can offer appropriate help and support, and making sure accessibility features are built into all new products and services.

Supporting businesses to be the drivers of change in society

Working with other businesses and Government, we’ll work to drive improvements in policy and other businesses’ practices by sharing our learnings and campaigning for change. #WorkWithMe is a three year initiative that’ll see us work with partners, inspire our employees and customers, and invite other businesses to help us change the way society views disability.

Scope and Virgin Media want to transform Britain's workplaces for good and we want more employers to join us. That’s why we launched the #WorkWithMe pledge, a set of actions to help businesses focus on a few practical areas to make their organisation more inclusive for disabled people.

As a business signing up to the #WorkWithMe pledge this demonstrates your commitment to thinking and acting differently about disability in the workplace. Interested?

Making good things happen for one million disabled people up and down the country. Unlocking their potential and making the most of the tenacity and resilience they embody. That is everyday equality.


[1] Scope’s analysis of the Annual Population Survey 2016-17