Amaze has managed the disability register for Brighton & Hove City Council (Compass Brighton & Hove) since 2002 and Compass Card Brighton & Hove was launched in March 2003. Amaze managed the disability register for West Sussex County Council (Compass West Sussex) from September 2015 to 31st March 2022.
The project in Brighton and Hove is widely recognised as a national model of best practice and in July 2016, the Department for Education’s policy paper ‘Putting children first: delivering our vision for excellent children’s social care’ also recognised the project in West Sussex.
Compass Brighton & Hove holds the details of over 2000 children and young people with significant special educational needs and disabilities, an estimated 70% of the total and probably the highest proportion in the country. Collated data from Compass Brighton & Hove is used by Brighton & Hove City Council and has had a significant impact on local services. See the ‘Annual stats reports’ on our Resources pages and scroll down to see how the data is presented under ‘Stats and facts’.
Compass Card Brighton & Hove has also had a powerful impact on the lives of disabled children and young people and their families. “Having a Compass Card has reduced our feelings of isolation [and] …given the whole family much more confidence and a strong sense of feeling part of a community” said one Compass Card family in an independent evaluation of the project published in November 2014. You’ll find this report from JB Eventus on our Resources page under ‘Stats and facts’.
In May 2020, the University of Brighton recently provided an independent evaluation of the Compass Project in Brighton & Hove and West Sussex and found the project was about a whole lot more than saving money. It also promotes accessibility, improves physical health and wellbeing and makes disability visible. You can find more information about the report here.
“I can’t stress how much it has improved our quality of life. It’s given us one.”
For more information about the impact of the Compass project, visit our Resources pages and look under ‘Stats and facts’.
Amaze
Registered Charity No 1078094