BDRC's History

The Birmingham Disability Resource Centre (BDRC) was the brainchild of a local disability rights organisation – called the Birmingham Disability Rights Group.  As an organisation run by disabled people, the Group argued that disabled people’s experience of discrimination and inequality often resulted in the denial of opportunity and rights of disabled people to speak on their own behalf and make their own decisions.

In 1986, disabled people across Birmingham - led by the Birmingham Disability Rights Group - successfully lobbied Birmingham City Council to fund the establishment of the Birmingham Disability Resource Centre.  Using the Social Model of Disability, it was argued that having a Disability Resource Centre in Birmingham would help local disabled people take control of their own lives and support their transition from the margins of society into the heat of the mainstream.   It was recognised that often, disabled people need to be encouraged to speak out for themselves, become positive about their own abilities and lifestyles and be supported in seeking ways to reduce the barriers they face in achieving full civil and human rights.

Since this time, the Birmingham Disability Resource Centre (BDRC) has aimed to be a focal point for disabled people in Birmingham.  A place where disabled people can meet, exchange information and use the facilities and services to access opportunities in the disabled people’s community and wider society.  As a founding principle of the Centre, the majority of people in its Board of Directors must be disabled or represent organisations of disabled people.

Many people over the years have given their time, energy and commitment to ensuring that the BDRC became the reality it is today.