Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM)

Photo: Teenage boy holding EDCM report

Every Disabled Child Matters (EDCM) is a national campaign created in 2005 by four leading organisations, Council for Disabled Children, MENCAP, Contact a Family and Special Educational Consortium, to bring about change for children with disabilities, their families and carers.

Campaign Aims

The Every Disabled Child Matters Campaign wants central and local government to:

  • Give disabled children and their families new rights to the services and support they need to lead ordinary lives.
  • Invest in new resources to make sure these rights can become a reality. This will be achieved through funding to sustain, embed and build on Aiming High for Disabled Children.
  • Give disabled children and their families a new level of priority, and work with them to improve the services they receive.

True Colours began supporting EDCM in 2005, enabling the campaign to employ full time staff and begin its work to lobby for significant improvements for disabled children and their families. As a direct result of EDCM's work the Government published Aiming High for Disabled Children in 2007 with a commitment of £340m for local authorities to support short breaks, transition to adulthood, affordable childcare and funding to help grow and develop parent's groups across the country. This was followed by two further funding announcements. The first in December 2007 provided an additional £90m for short break services and grants for children aged 16 and 17 years old. The second announcement in February 2009 allocated a further £340m through Healthy lives, brighter futures to enable Primary Care Trusts to provide better support for children with complex health needs.

EDCM's work currently focuses on the successful implementation of the objectives set out in Aiming High for Disabled Children, ensuring that this funding is sustained by the next Government and making disabled children and their families a priority for the next election. Recent campaign reports include the Short Breaks Tracking Interim Report, Disabled Children and Health and Disabled Children's Manifesto for Change.

Further information on EDCM can be found here.