We rarely do anything on our own, even the services we deliver alone have been initially conceived and planned in consultation with our beneficiaries and with disabled people. Our two most significant resources, the Index for Inclusion and Equality: Making It Happen have also been produced in close collaboration with groups of educators, disabled people and other stakeholders.
Inclusive education community
CSIE has joined the new (2025) inclusive education community, brought together by the Wates Family Enterprise Trust and the Centre for Social Justice, seeking to shape the future of education. It brings together funders, practitioners, researchers, policy leaders and families to share insights, co-create solutions and advocate for long-term change.
Special Educational Consortium
CSIE has been a member of the steering group of the Special Educational Consortium (SEC) since its inception in the 1980s. It is a group of 40+ organisations with a wide range of perspectives, that protect and promote the rights of children with labels of SEND (disabled children & young people and those with labels of special educational needs). SEC has become a united front in influencing legislation and national policy and is a consultative partner to the Department of Education.
Diverse educators
CSIE is a member of Diverse Educators, set up as a grassroots network in 2018, and a member of its Regional Hub (Bristol) since 2023. Diverse Educators have published a collaboratively written book “Diverse Educators: A Manifesto”, in which our director has written a chapter on disability equality.
Alliance for Inclusive Education (Allfie)
CSIE has had strong links with the Alliance for Inclusive Education (Allfie) ever since Allfie was formed in 1990. Led by Disabled people, Allfie works on campaigning and information-sharing on education, training and apprenticeship issues. Between 2004 and 2006, CSIE supported Allfie to send a representative, alongside a representative of CSIE, to New York to contribute to the negotiations of the Ad Hoc Committee responsible for writing Article 24 (Education) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Allfie’s former director, Tara Flood, was a Trustee of CSIE from 2006 until 2010. In 2024 Allfie invited CSIE to join the Inclusive Education Coalition, brought together to take collective action for achieving legislation on inclusive education in England.
World of Inclusion and UK Disability History Month
CSIE has often collaborated with World of Inclusion, and Disability Equality in Education before it. Dr Richard Rieser OBE, founder and CEO of both organisations, was an active member of the team that created the Index for Inclusion, and has been regularly invited to contribute to more recent CSIE projects. Richard Rieser is also founder and coordinator of UK Disability History Month, to which CSIE regularly contributes.
IHE UK
CSIE is a member of the advocacy group Inclusive Higher Education UK (IHE UK), established in 2021, advocating with and for students with intellectual impairments to have inclusion in higher education. This growing network brings together academics, students, disability advocates, parents and other stakeholders from many countries, aiming to advocate and raise awareness for the rights of people with learning differences/ intellectual impairments to effective and enriching post-secondary education.
Essex & Thames SCITT
CSIE is a strategic partner of Essex and Thames SCITT a School-Centred Initial Teacher Training provider accredited by Anglia Ruskin University, with a strong interest in preparing teachers to work in inclusive classrooms. Trainee teachers have dedicated time to explore issues of equality, diversity and inclusion, including to learn about unconscious bias and reducing barriers to learning and participation for all pupils.
