Purple Tuesday – how we’re improving the customer experience for disabled people

We need to change the disability conversation from one about vulnerable people, charity and welfare to one focused on choice, contribution and opportunity on all things disability.  

That’s why, the team at Purple a leading disability organisation, have created #PurpleTuesday, which we celebrate on 2 November. Our aim is to support both disabled people and all organisations to redefine accessibility for both economic benefit and social impact.

What is #PurpleTuesday? 

#PurpleTuesday is a change programme for organisations of all sizes, from all sectors to get involved in, with the common goal of improving the customer experience for disabled people 365 days a year. 

It’s about improving the awareness of the value and needs of disabled customers. It’s about making the customer experience accessible. Participating organisations make public commitments (a minimum of one new activity or initiative) to ensure sustainable changes are made. For organisations, this will result in the opening up of products and services to the £274bn disability market – known as the Purple Pound.

Working in partnership

Earlier this year we announced a national partnership working with Eastlight Community Homes to help drive equality for disabled people in housing.

In October, we held a virtual panel event in partnership with Eastlight Community Homes, exploring opportunities to improve the experiences of disabled people in the housing industry both from an employee and resident perspective. The session helped raise awareness of the challenges disabled residents and employees face, the business case for improvements and best practice approaches that already demonstrate positive impact for disabled people.

Key speakers included Emma Palmer, Chief Executive of Eastlight, Simon Nunn, Executive Director of Member Services, National Housing Federation and leading accessibility experts. Residents also joined the discussions sharing their lived experience in housing.

If was fantastic to see attendees at the event from across the housing sector who understood the importance of coming together to learn more about providing a disability inclusive experience.

We are delighted to be working with Eastlight and other National Housing Federation members; housing is one of those central pillars for transforming permanent change for disabled people.

We are committed to driving changes and improvements that can be made to improve the experiences of disabled people in the housing sector.

We look forward to unlocking the conversations that need to be had with housing providers to share best practise and be the catalyst for change in housing, culture, attitudes and policy which will level up the inequality between disabled and non-disabled people.

Learn more about Purple Tuesday via our website and share your support for the day by simply taking a selfie giving the thumbs up and share on social media using the #ThumbsUp for #PurpleTuesday and tagging @PurpleTuesNov on Twitter.