Scope opens new Leeds Community Hub

The new community hub is a welcoming, accessible and multi-use space. It will be open to local disabled people and community groups as a safe space to meet, connect, share ideas, and come together to create an equal future with disabled people.

The hub will offer a wide range of Scope’s services and activities including:

Support for local disabled jobseekers who can make an appointment to access tailored, expert, face to face advice from Scope’s Support to Work Extra service. They can also use the hub’s computers and accessible tables to look for work.

The hub is the home of Scope’s national free Helpline, Disability Energy Service, online community and Cerebral Palsy Network.

Scope’s Youth Community Collective a group of disabled 18-to-25 year olds who meet to plan and deliver projects and campaigns that benefit the local disabled community. Scope’s Community Engagement, a group of disabled adults, carers and parents of disabled people aged 25 and over, who also meet to plan and deliver projects that benefit their community.

There is access to host events, free of charge, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.

The site will be home to Scope’s national Helpline, with 16 expert advisers based at the hub, available to support the UK’s 16 million disabled people by phone or digitally. The helpline provides practical advice, guidance and reassurance on a wide range of issues.

Scope’s national Disability Energy Support service provides advice to disabled households on their utility bills. Life costs more for disabled people. High electricity bills because of medical equipment to power. High heating bills because of health conditions affected by the cold. The average debt owed to energy suppliers by callers to Scope’s service was £1,986.

Last year, our Helpline and Disability Energy Support service provided essential advice and guidance to over 42,000 disabled people as the cost of living soared. Our experts managed to achieve estimated savings of £1.9 million by identifying benefits, grants and support that disabled people were entitled to.

John McLachlan, Executive Director of Services at disability equality charity Scope, says: “We’re incredibly excited to open our doors to our Scope Leeds community hub. We can’t wait to welcome local disabled people, community groups and businesses.

“Our new community hub is a place where local disabled people can get tailored support and advice, in a safe, welcoming and accessible environment.

“We’ve co-produced the design of this building with disabled people to ensure our space delivers what they need. We believe accessibility is essential and our new hub offers a cutting-edge environment where everyone will feel included.

“We’re looking forward to having lots of wonderful, inclusive and of course, accessible, events here. We can’t wait to engage disabled people in Leeds to radically transform attitudes towards disability and create an equal future for all.”

Scope’s Leeds Community Hub is at 3 Brewery Wharf, Dock Street, LS10 1JF.