We have made the difficult decision to close our CHANGE service at the end of March 2026. This follows a thorough review by our Board, who looked carefully at all possible options for CHANGE’s future. Their responsibility is to safeguard the long‑term financial health of The Advonet Group, and this decision, while not easy, reflects that duty.
CHANGE became part of our organisation in 2019, at a time when the service itself was facing challenges. For more than three decades, CHANGE has produced high quality Easy Read images and resources and played a national role in championing the rights of adults with learning disabilities. We remain hugely proud of that legacy.
CHANGE’s legacy
Over almost three decades, CHANGE has worked with a huge range of organisations, from large national and international bodies and NHS services to small charities and individuals to make complex topics easier to understand.
CHANGE was first set up in 1997 and became part of The Advonet Group in 2019, where it continued to create a huge range of high-quality Easy Read images and resources and worked on many projects to promote the human rights of adults with learning disabilities.
CHANGE was originally founded to seek improvements to the criminal justice system, campaigning for MPs to sign the ‘Fair Hearing’ motion. Their work to protect the rights of people with learning disabilities as part of Advonet has included commissions and partnerships with organisations including Liberty and the Ministry of Justice.
CHANGE also played a leading role in developing the Accessible Information Standard, embodied in their very widely-used guide to creating accessible information.
Lived experience
A defining strength of CHANGE has always been its commitment to lived experience. Colleagues with learning disabilities were at the heart of creating accessible content, supported by the Words to Pictures group – volunteers who regularly reviewed images and text to ensure they were genuinely clear and inclusive.
CHANGE has delivered a wide range of impactful projects, often in partnership with charities, healthcare providers and universities. These have included work on the history of people with learning disabilities in Leeds and the LGBTQIA+ inclusion project, Out Spoken.
Although we will no longer produce Easy Read materials commercially for clients, we are still committed to empowering people with learning disabilities and ensuring information is accessible to them. This will continue through the great work of our Asking You team.
Next steps
Later this month, there will be a blog post on the CHANGE website with a series of FAQs about the closure. We will also be sharing posts on social media to recognise and celebrate CHANGE’s achievements as we approach the end of March.
If you have any questions about the closure of CHANGE, please get in touch. Call us on 0113 244 0606 and ask for Wendy or Angela, or email [email protected].
