National Disability Card

It's a lot easier to carry around then a letter from the DWP. I keep mine in my wallet all the time.

Plus there's no address on it for people to see.

I've been showing people the blue ID card for over 6 years now and it's never been questioned or refused. I was a bit worried at first though in case it was worth the money.

Why is this card even allowed to pretend to be an official document - with a crown on it ?

Hi

Welcome to the community.

Mine was green - so they obviously were not supplied nationally - maybe printed off locally by the Disability Employment Advisor ?

I used mine as ID for the job centre !

Hi,

I've just come across this thread as considering purchasing one of these cards. The one I think I have settled on is from Disability Card UK and costs £8 for 2 years, as opposed to many of the others at £20. These people created the Carers Card UK and frequently champion people with disabilities and carers, recently obtaining 36,000 signatures for a letter to petition the PM.

Whilst I was initially sceptical and so understand peoples comments, I feel many are possibly not coming from the perspective of a person with hidden disabilities?

I am well aware that we each face our own different challenges as individuals with disabilities. For me personally, one of my biggest struggles and barriers is that all of my disabilities are completely hidden, often leading to confrontational situations, which, in turn, has led to many panic attacks. I have been refused, mocked, ignored, reprimanded, and outright laughed at when I have asked for help. That led me to obtain a sunflower lanyard a few weeks ago, which I then used whilst accessing Special Assistance at Manchester and Marrakech airport on a recent holiday. I also recently used it on a minicruise to Amsterdam.

I can not stress enough how much this has changed my life. I opted to pay for the Extra part to the sunflower scheme, so that with one tap on a mobile device, people can read what support I may need. Around 325 airports around the world are known to support the scheme, but it is possibly more.

That said, I do feel this scheme may have its limitations, and bearing in mind what has happened to me on many occasions previously, I do not want to take any chances. As people have mentioned, the Sunflower scheme does not require any evidence to be uploaded, which did surprise me. All it takes is for 1 person to have known or suspected someone has misused the scheme, and I could find myself in the same position, being asked to prove myself. It is all very well people stating that we should carry our PIP letters etc, but not only do I not want to lose it, at an attraction hosting potentially thousands of visitors a day in a foreign country, which security officer has time to start reading a lengthy letter in English, and who's to say I've not faked that anyway?!

The simplicity of flashing a card with your photo and symbols in a foreign country, and knowing that it has been validated via an upload of proof, is much more convenient to me, particularly when trying to travel light and not wanting to risk losing important documents. £8 isn't going to break the bank AND I get discounts on many things. It is estimated that 80% of disabilities are non-visible, so whether we like it or not, many of us are frequently fighting and struggling and needing to prove ourselves out there. In the absence of a simple government issued card, I'm in favour of something that is helpful in combating that stress, whilst also being cost effective and financially accessible.

Tbh, I'm more put out that I have to buy a discount card to actually access a discount on train fares 🤔😄🤦🏼‍♀️

This company - appears to be a profit making scam - I checked companies house and it has become clearer - see https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12275048/filing-history for the finances of the company - it is not a charity - it made over £1 million last year - with £652,000 going to shareholders… YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !