Impact by the Numbers

Last year, AFK supported 725 young people with disabilities or neurodiverse conditions to achieve their goals. Of those, 155 gained crucial employment skills through tailored placements and workshops, while 178 accessed mobility equipment—like powered wheelchairs and adaptive sports gear—that opens up new opportunities for sport, study, and social life.

Innovative Programmes Driving Change

AFK’s Impact and Innovation programme combines long-standing services with new offerings designed to boost independence and life skills:

• Employer Visits & Work Placements | In partnership with the National Theatre, The Old Vic, Arriva, Fireshine Games and more, these visits and four-week accredited placements (e.g., at Bikes For Good Causes) let participants explore careers hands-on.
• Employment Workshops & Masterclasses | Led by AFK staff and corporate partners (Vodafone, Accenture, Netflix, Metropolitan Police), sessions cover professional communication, personal branding, interview success, and sector overviews.
• Leadership Programme | For ages 11–25, plus alumni, this co-creative series empowers emerging leaders to advocate for accessibility and shape inclusive solutions.
• Independent Travel Training | Tailored one-to-one coaching helps young people safely navigate public transit for school, work, and social life.
• Self-Employment Support | From business planning to mentorship with corporate sponsors, AFK’s programme gives aspiring entrepreneurs the tools to launch and sustain their own ventures.

From Humble Beginnings to Lasting Vision

Founded in 1992 by Sally Bishop after she raised funds for a child’s powered wheelchair, AFK has grown from a grassroots charity into a national force for empowerment. Today, AFK’s mission—to remove barriers and unlock potential—is guided by its social model of disability, which holds that society must change to include everyone, rather than asking individuals to conform.

Fighters is released in UK cinemas from Monday 23rd June.

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Big population, a small representation

Better representation of disability on screen isn’t only incredibly important for diversity and originality but it also gives actors with disabilities more opportunities. Despite there being 13.9 million people in the UK with some type of disability (the current population is 66 million), eight in 10 disabled people say they do not feel well represented in the media so there’s clearly something wrong when it comes to disability representation.

It becomes even more clear when you put statistics next to it. In 2016, only 2.7 percent of characters in the 100 highest-earning movies had a disability. Last year only 2.1% of the characters in primetime TV series were disabled. It’s not only the numbers that need to change but also the way disability is being represented on screen. Disabled people in media always come with stereotypical roles such as being the object of pity, victims of violence or the evil person.

A long fight that’s still not fought yet

The battle to see disability better represented on screen is being a hard one but luckily many art institutes don’t give up on it. One of the most important ones is the casting studio VisABLE, which helps to create professional opportunities for actors, presenters and models with disabilities for over more than 20 years. Their highly skilled professionals were already part of television series and films such as Doctors, Casualty and Holmes and Watson. Some of the films might even appear on the ‘Disabled Britain on Film‘, a part of the online BFI Player. Thanks to this initiative, you can watch many films for free that are about the on-screen representation of disabled people over the past decades.

Another big institute supporting the representation is the BBC. Last year, they pledged to include more actors and entertainers in their television programs such as shows, documentaries, and dramas. This might have been the outcome of the angriness they caused in 2018 when they cast Charlie Heaton (a non-disabled actor) in the role of Elephant Man. If the new pledge of BBC is coming off the ground, it would be a massive step in the right direction. Hopefully, many important broadcasters will pledge the same.

104 Films production company is an example of a film production company leading the way, as they’re hoping to create a shift in the representation of disability both on-screen and off. Many production companies should follow their example without a doubt.

Film festivals such as ‘Together! Disability Film Festival‘ in London the ‘Oska Bright film festival‘ in Brighton also don’t stay behind when it comes to wanting to represent more disability on screen. The films that are part of the festivals are made by deaf/disabled filmmakers and feature a strong central deaf/disabled character.

Casting the right people is key

Whether we want to admit or not, there’s whitewashing going on in film. Think about the backlash casting decision such as Kiernan Shipka in The Silence or Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club. The comments about that last example were about the fact Leto portrayed every stereotype of a transgender woman and that the portrayal was wrong on so many levels. So tell us, why do we still allow non-disabled people to portray disabled characters if that indeed also results in stereotypes on screen? That casting disabled people can turn a gorgeous film into an even more beautiful and important one became clear over the last few years. Think of the Oscar-winning short film The Silent Child. If a film like that, with a relatively small budget, can hire disabled people and making them feel at ease, then why can’t big blockbusters?

Old problem, new mindset

How can we start to solve this old problem? According to reelhoney.com, one of the measurements that a production company can take is to make auditions much more accessible and to meet the access requirements. It would literally make the threshold lower for disabled people to start in the film and television industry. A few years ago, actress Sarah Gordy (Call The Midwife), who has Down syndrome, mentioned that directors and producers didn’t think she would be able to play a part because of her learning disability. However, after giving her a chance, she was able to prove them wrong in the best way possible. Another measurement is probably the best and probably also the easiest one production companies, producers and directors can take: Just give people with disabilities a chance!

Also Read: When Great Video Games Become Lacklustre Movies

The post Eight in 10 people In The UK with A Disability Don’t Feel Represented In The Media appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.