Image of Alka ,a parent support worker, sitting with two clients at their kitchen table.

Our impact

 

 

 

Home > About us > Our impact

Our mission is to support local Disabled People to be independent.

We provide information, advice and practical support to enable residents to get the right start in life, to live independently, to be connected to their community and to have their voice heard.

We worked with over 5,000 clients across Richmond, Kingston, Wandsworth and Hounslow in 2024/2025.

Image of a young girl sliding down a green slide. Her father is standing next to her watching her go down the slide.

Getting the right start

Image of a direct payment client Shirley who is seated in her wheelchair With her personal care assistance standing next to her. They are laughing about something that has been said. They are in the client's home.

Living independently

Three women and one man at Hampton Court Palace Gardens. One person is seating in a wheelchair and the other three are behind.

Connected with the community

A group of people and stakeholders from RATP Dev and TfL sitting/standing in front of a red double decker bus.

Community voice

Getting the Right Start

Image of family support worker Alka sitting on a couch with her client.

Family Matters Advisors worked with 227 parents of young people with SEND.

A room with about 30 people in it sitting in chairs facing a presenter who is looking at a presentation being projected on a wall.

We ran 16 specialist workshops attended by 217 local parents.

Befriender Leo is helping client Avni to tie dye a shirt. They are both standing at a table and Avni has a bottle of dye in her hands.

Befrienders delivered over 6,587 hours of befriending to 60 families.

The Ruils Minecraft group members sitting around a group of tables. All are playing the game on their laptops.

We ran our Minecraft group, regularly attended by 6 young people, and launched additional activities with Cooking up and our allotment, attended by 24 young people. 

Image of Alex, SEND Advisor, sitting at a table in a cafe with a woman. He is writing in a notebook and she is speaking.

We supported 186 families to understand and undertake the complex EHCP process.

Image of two women sitting on a bench in a community garden. One is blonde and wearing a green t-shirt, the other has caramel hair with a black t-shirt.

We had 1-2-1’s with 78 parents and ran 5 workshops through the Bright Futures service.

group image of young people seated and standing around a bench. They are laughing about something. The Bright Futures Logo is in the top left hand corner.

We launched the Bright Futures SEND Transitions Hub, with over 150 curated articles, which has received over 64k views.

Two women sitting on a green bench in a park.

We supported 45 parents through session with Skylarks, Oaklands, St Richard Primary, Linden Bennet schools and the Council hubs in Hounslow.

Living Independently

Carla and Josie in the community garden near the Ruils office. Josie is wearing a red dress and seated in her wheelchair and Carla is standing behind wearing a black t-shirt.

We supported 399 residents in Richmond and Wandsworth to recruit their own care staff via a Direct Payment.

Image of a direct payment client Shirley who is seated in her wheelchair With her personal care assistance standing next to her. They are laughing about something that has been said. They are in the client's home.

We supported 719 clients with Managed Accounts and provided payroll services to 473 employers during the year.

Image of a white man with black glasses on the top of his head wearing a black T shirt is sitting in front of a desk with a laptop on it. The laptop has ebay pulled up and around the desk our supplies to make model cars.

Connect to Tech helped 60 clients to identify, set up and manage the appropriate device for them.

Social Prescriber James seated at a desk in a GP surgery having a chat with a woman.

Social Prescribing supported 2,437 residents to access local services and activities and we provided 4,315 interventions.

Photo of four members of the Ruils team at a health and wellbeing Fair. They are seated at a table with a red tablecloth with the white Ruils logo on it. Behind them is red and white bunting and a Ruils banner.

We organised 6 Health & Wellbeing events in our target localities (on average 25-50 attendees at the events) and worked with 60 clients 1-2-1 through our Health in Your Hands service.

Image of pathways benefits advice case worker Emily sitting next to her client at a table in a meeting room. They are looking at a book that is sitting on the table next to a black laptop.

We supported 89 Disabled people to challenge Benefit and Housing decisions resulting in just under £15,200 in back payments of benefits.

Image of a white woman with Auburn hair wearing a tan jumpsuit handing a leaflet to a white woman with dark hair wearing a black T shirt. They are seated on a brick wall and behind them there is a green hedge.

Our 13 volunteer counsellors worked with 120 clients providing essential mental health support.

Image of a young man and young woman sitting at a meeting room table. Front of them they each have a black laptop and the woman is taking notes in a notepad. Behind them are two images of blue skies and clouds and field of flowers.

We gave out 109 welfare grants on behalf of Richmond Charities, a private donor and the Richmond Foundation.

Two women standing behind a table at a conference

294 patients were accepted onto the PAC programme. A review in August 2024 showed that patients on the programme for four months or longer experienced a 49% reduction in unplanned care and a 55% decrease in the length of hospital stays for unplanned, non-elective reason.

Image of Phil, Callum and Susie standing outside of a venue

Through our Community Health & Wellbeing programme, we engaged 98 residents through monthly home visits, offering proactive support to address unmet social needs and encourage health-related behaviours.

Jenny - Community Health Check

We carried out 450 community health checks Outcomes of these included 31% of individuals requiring further assessment for high blood pressure, 19% identified as at risk of diabetes and 3% needing further investigation for atrial fibrillation.

Connected with the Community

Image of client and her Befriender sitting in a living room.

Our team of 65 volunteers provided befriending, confidence walks and shopping support for 46 clients.

Image of the Ruils theatre group performing at the 20th anniversary event. They are all holding their left fist in the air and a man in a Hawaiian shirt is at the front of the group speaking into a microphone.

There were over 3,300 attendances across 350 activity group sessions over the year.

A woman wearing a warm coat and hat packing Christmas food parcels.

30 volunteers delivered Christmas food parcels to 69 households (approximately 250 people) across Richmond.

image of the creative writing group at an event

The Creative Writing Group was shortlisted for the Richmond Borough Community Heroes Project of the Year Award, and two volunteers were shortlisted for Outstanding Volunteer.

Community Voice

Group photo of the Ruils members at the Mortlake ticket office closure protest. There are two wheelchair users, one guide dog user and the rest are standing. Many are holding placards with phrases like "save Mortlake ticket office"

Richmond Your Say and the Transport & Mobility Forum held 14 meetings across the year. The group tackled issues including housing, healthcare changes, transport and access to businesses.

A person holding a paper version of the "Same Day GP Appointments Accessibility Guide" created by Ruils Your Say group

Your Say focused on access to same day GP appointments and coproduced an access guide for practice managers to implement.

Purple, light blue and white Richmond PCF (parent carer forum) logo

We continue to host the Richmond Parent Carer Forum who now have 649 members.

Photo of Roehampton University Disabled and Neurodivergent society members and Ruils staff at a panel discussion on neurodiversity.

At present we have 231 active members; 71 members have been added since January 2024.