The Hospice welcomes applications for volunteer roles from disabled people. The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. We are interested in collecting information about disabilities, so that we can accommodate the needs of volunteers as far as reasonably possible.
Below is a list of some medical impairments that could cause people to describe themselves as ‘having a disability’. It is not an exhaustive list, and is given for guidance only:
- Hearing, speech or visual impairments (wearing glasses or contact lenses is not normally considered a disability)
- Physical mobility problems, coordination or dexterity (for example as a result of polio, spinal injury, severe back problems, RSI, etc.)
- Mental health (for example schizophrenia, severe depression, severe phobias)
- Learning difficulties / disabilities (for example Down’s Syndrome, dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder)
- Long-term conditions such as: diabetes, epilepsy, chronic heart disease, haemophilia, asthma, cancer, HIV
- Other