Sense Unveils Ambitious Three-Year Transformation Plan for Disabled People with Complex Needs
Sense, the national charity that supports disabled people with complex needs, has launched a wide-ranging transformation plan that will guide its work through to 2029, pledging to strengthen its services, expand its influence, and invest in its people as it seeks to build a world “without limits” for those it supports.
The plan, titled Transforming Sense, Together (2026–2029), sets out how the organisation will modernise and grow its services, deepen its campaigning work, and embed financial sustainability across its operations.
It represents the first strategic business plan under the leadership of chief executive James Watson-O’Neill, who took up his post in February 2025.
The strategy was shaped by the voices of 3,000 people connected to Sense, through workshops, listening groups, one-to-one consultations, surveys and research with people with lived experience — including the charity’s Experts by Experience and Sense User Reference Group, two bodies that enable people living in Sense services to directly influence the charity’s direction.
Watson-O’Neill said the plan was firmly rooted in what disabled people themselves had told the organisation. “We are incredibly proud of the life-changing support we provide but disabled people with complex needs told us clearly that too many barriers still shape their daily lives, and that they are exhausted having to fight for the basic support, understanding and opportunities they deserve,” he said. “Our plan is rooted in those voices and experiences.”
The plan is built around four key commitments. The first is leading with lived experience, with Sense pledging to expand co-production across all areas of the charity — from designing services to influencing policy — and to recruit more disabled leaders and establish new advisory groups to guide decision-making.
The second pillar focuses on strengthening Sense’s services, with the charity committing to move all of its operations to digital systems, improving care records and ensuring services are both evidence-led and financially sustainable.
The third strand centres on driving social change, with Sense aiming to increase its influence beyond those directly in its care, seeking to shift wider societal attitudes and policy towards disabled people with complex needs.
The fourth area involves investing in people, systems and processes. This includes improving pay and career progression for staff, strengthening learning and governance structures, and embedding a new organisation-wide approach to equity, diversity and inclusion.
The plan acknowledges the challenging financial environment facing the sector. Sense made the difficult decision to close four operational programmes — including its holidays provision — in January 2026. The charity noted that while these services made a real difference to people’s lives over many years, rising costs and reduced funding opportunities made them no longer financially viable to continue.
Looking ahead, the plan includes the design and approval of a new fundraising strategy in its first year, a refocused retail function to generate more reliable income, and a drive to build commercial and procurement capability to secure better fees and sustainable growth.
