Welcome

Welcome to our Microcosm of Acceptance: a dynamic club for cool disabled people. Find our latest Annual Report here.

Outsiders welcomes people with physical and social impairments to join our club and benefit from the many services we offer. We aim to help you feel more confident and self-accepting, with higher self-esteem, and able to enjoy life. Some use Outsiders as a stepping stone, some to make more friends, and some to find a partner.

Our members are determined to make the most of life and we encourage them to be proactive in doing so. They live all over the country and abroad, are all ages and, as you see from this website. are proud to belong to our unique club. We hope to have secure online joining soon but, in the meantime please use one of our application forms to join (this process is very secure)."

We also welcome health care professionals who want to include the topics of loneliness, sex and relationships in discussions with their clients but feel alone and unsupported in doing so. We do this through our Sexual Health and Disability Alliance, on www.shada.org.uk

We run the Sex and Disability Helpline from 11am – 7pm weekdays on 0707 499 3527, email sexdis@Outsiders.org.uk . Calls are taken from both disabled people and health care professionals.

Whenever possible, Outsiders works together with other groups to address the isolation faced by many disabled people, and to campaign for the acceptance of disabled people as sexual partners.

Outsiders is now 33 years old and we have watched how society has changed. In the old days, although buildings were much more inaccessible and there were fewer disabled parking spaces, people were much more relaxed about accepting people who “looked different” as partners. Today, everyone seems to need a good-looking, fit, wealthy partner who has a job and home — almost to impress their parents and peers. The disabled parking spaces are often empty and disabled people often find they go home from the accessible nightclub on their own.

We are aware of the highly successful online dating websites and yet notice that disabled people find them frustrating and dangerous. Outsiders provides a safe and private haven for people who may be quite vulnerable, sometimes inexperienced and still going through a process of self-acceptance.

Lesley Child, one of our female members said, “Disabled people make the best partners because we have learned how to ask for things nicely, and have developed ingenuity in overcoming insurmountable problems.”

Outsiders
Support Network

Mikey Argy

I am bowled over
by the generosity of time
and dedication of your volunteers
and by their professionalism
and accountability.
You have a great setup.
Outsiders should feel proud
that they are members.
I am proud too that I am able
to do my bit and be
a part of a great organization.

Mikey