Sense is a

charitable organization A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The charity exists to support people who are deafblind or who have a hearing or vision impairment and another

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...

and campaigns for the rights of disabled people in the UK. It operates in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The charity's full name is Sense, The National Deafblind and

Rubella Rubella, also known as German measles or three-day measles, is an infection caused by the rubella virus. This disease is often mild, with half of people not realizing that they are infected. A rash may start around two weeks after exposure and ...

Association but its operating name is Sense. It was previously called The National Deafblind and Rubella Association.

Charitable services

The charity offers a range of services for disabled people including residential services, advice and information and arts and sports activities. It also offers education services to young people with complex learning disabilities. It also provides a residential holiday scheme for disabled children. Sense also supports people in the UK affected by

Usher syndrome Usher syndrome, also known as Hallgren syndrome, Usher–Hallgren syndrome, retinitis pigmentosa–dysacusis syndrome or dystrophia retinae dysacusis syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder caused by a mutation in any one of at least 11 genes result ...

Campaigning and advocacy work

Sense also campaigns for the rights of disabled people to take part in life.

Children's play campaign

This activity included a 2016 campaign that highlighted that many disabled children were excluded from playgrounds and other children's play activities. This included an inquiry into children's play activities in the UK and a report called The Case for Play.

Sense Sign School

In 2020, the charity ran an educational campaign called Sense Sign School to increase understanding of British Sign Language (BSL). This campaign promoted free online lessons in BSL taught by a teenager living with

CHARGE syndrome CHARGE syndrome (formerly known as CHARGE association) is a rare syndrome caused by a genetic disorder. First described in 1979, the acronym "CHARGE" came into use for newborn children with the congenital features of coloboma of the eye, heart ...

Campaigning on exclusion and social isolation

In 2021, Sense campaigned to highlight the exclusion and social isolation of disabled people during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The charity was also involved in highlighting the abuse of a woman and her deafblind sister for removing a face mask. Sense also published a report about exclusion and social isolation among disabled people that highlighted the barriers faced by disabled people in everyday life.

Governance and regulation

Sense is a charitable company registered with the

Charity Commission , type = Non-ministerial government department , seal = , seal_caption = , logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg , logo_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , ...

. It is also regulated by the

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. I ...

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

(Office For Standards In Education) and

Care Inspectorate Wales Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (relief agency), "Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere", an international aid and ...

(CIW).

Royal patronage

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

, the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a substantive title, style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a United Kingdom, British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of th ...

is the patron of Sense. In December 2020, Princess Anne was thanked for her work by a disabled teenager supported by Sense.

Guinness World Record

Sense is notable for holding the world's largest

tactile signing Tactile signing is a common means of communication used by people with deafblindness. It is based on a sign language or another system of manual communication. "Tactile signing" refers to the mode or medium, i.e. signing (using some form of sign ...

lesson. This took place in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 2 October 2018 and involved 390 participants.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sense, UK charity Charities for disabled people based in the United Kingdom Measles Rubella Campaigning Deafblindness