About Us

Who are we?
Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living was set up in 2005 by a group of disabled people to support disabled people living in Wiltshire to have choice and control to live independent lives.  Our vision is for all disabled people to be able to live independently through individual choice, control and equal rights.  Our mission is to provide the support required to achieve this.

We provide a range of services to support disabled people who live or work in the county. We also provide disability advice, information and training to interested organisations, professionals or individuals.

We are based in centrally-placed, accessible premises in Devizes but we are also happy to visit you in your home, at your convenience.

Please take time to look at our services and use the links to guide you to the services we provide and information you may need. Should you have difficulty accessing the information you require, please do contact us as we are only a ‘phone call away.

We welcome your suggestions to improve your experience of using our website and will be happy to answer any questions you may have. We will continue to update the website with current information both locally and nationally. Thank you!

Our contact details
Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living
11 Couch Lane    Devizes     Wiltshire      SN10 1EB
Tel: 0300 1233 442       Email: info@wiltshirecil.org.uk

Office opening hours:  Monday to Friday  9.00am until 5.00pm
(An answer phone is available outside of these hours)
http://www.wiltshirecil.org.uk/contact-us/

About Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living (WCIL)
In 2005 following the report from the Strategy Unit of the Cabinet Office entitled ‘Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People’ in which the rights of disabled people to exercise choice and control over how they live their lives and the right to access the appropriate funds to do so were detailed, a group of disabled people and their allies got together to form Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living in order to provide the support, advice and information people would need to take that control.

Wiltshire CIL is a user led organisation committed to promoting and supporting independent living by assisting and enabling disabled people to challenge barriers, access services and make informed choices.

We strongly believe in the social model of disability i.e. that disability is caused by the barriers that people with impairments encounter on a daily basis. This belief is central to everything we do.

We provide a range of services that directly support disabled people in Wiltshire. This is based on the principle that that the user chooses the support they want rather than having to take what is offered to them. The services we provide include:

  • Information, advice and support for people using direct payments
  • Support for people managing their own care package
  • Payroll and/or banking service
  • Information for employing personal assistants
  • Training opportunities
  • Coproduction with young people with SEN and adults
  • Community Connecting
  • On line, down loadable resources and information

Find out more about our services here: WCIL Who We Are and download our leaflet here: WCIL Leaflet

Wiltshire CIL is a registered charity (no. 1120611) and a company limited by guarantee (no. 5480761).

We are managed by a board of dedicated service users and carers drawn from our membership.

Wiltshire CIL works closely with the public sector as well the Voluntary and Community Services (VCS) and the private sector for mutual support and promotion of the rights of disabled people in the county. We are committed to working alongside other providers in Wiltshire to improve services for disabled people and to strive together to offer streamlined, accessible and comprehensive services.

Read our Values Statement

You can read our Memorandum and Articles of Association here:
http://www.wiltshirecil.org.uk/governance/

You can read our complaints policy and procedures here:
Complaints Policy & Procedures

History of Centres for Independent Living
In the 1950s and 1960s following the two World Wars it was a period of great change in both the United States and the United Kingdom. A number of new social movements developed including the Civil Rights Movement and Disability Movement in both the USA and UK. By joining together people grew stronger to fight discrimination and exclusion. There had been an increase in the numbers of disabled people injured in battle after the war and this lead to the concept of rehabilitation for wounded and disabled soldiers. There began to be a move away from segregating disabled people from institutions. The return of disabled Vietnam veterans contributed to the effect.

It was this atmosphere of change and challenge that lead to the first Centre for Independent Living being developed in Berkley, California in 1972 by a group of young university students determined to challenge their exclusion from mainstream university life and secure their rights on campus.

The students were undeterred and won their right. They were provided with personal assistance at the University and following this decided that a Personal Assistance Service was needed in the community. This developed into the first CIL and it was based around five core services:

  • Personal assistance
  • Housing
  • Access
  • Peer support
  • Accessible transport

Today there are now CILs in all 52 states in the US.

In England the first CILs were developed in Hampshire and Derbyshire in the 1980’s and are now in existence across the UK.

The key feature of all CILs is that they are controlled by disabled people. They provide user led and innovative services supporting disabled people to gain choice, control and independence over all aspects of their lives.

The Independent Living ethos and philosophy is ingrained in all aspects of the work of Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living to ensure the basic human rights of all disabled people are respected in all we do. We are accountable to disabled people within the county for the support and services we deliver.