Disability charity Motability has changed its name and rebranded to the Motability Foundation in an attempt to increase awareness of its wider remit of grant-giving, research and innovation, and to make it easier for disabled people and organisations to find and access the support it provides.
The organisation is well known for its role overseeing the Motability Scheme, which leases different types of transport options including cars, mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs to disabled people and their families around the UK.
But the charity said that despite a significant expansion in its grant-giving, research and innovation activities over the past two years, a recent survey of disabled people, their friends, family, carers and disability organisations found that just 2 per cent of respondents named it as a disability charity.
In 2022 the Motability Foundation launched six new grant programmes and committed to providing £50m in funding over the next three financial years to organisations across the UK that can help fill gaps in existing transport services for disabled people, such as community transport.
But the organisation said that for its work to have the greatest possible impact, it was vital that the Motability Foundation was recognised as a disability charity that supports all disabled people rather than being solely associated with the Motability Scheme, with which it shared a name and logo.
In a statement announcing the change, Barry Le Grys, chief executive of the Motability Foundation, said the rebrand was “more than a cosmetic change to a name and a logo”.
Le Grys said: “We are proud of our name and the heritage that comes with it. However, as an organisation, we are evolving, and we need to make sure our communications and brand help us to do that.
“As the Motability Foundation, we want to reach more disabled people, charities and organisations by making it easier for them to understand who we are and find out how we can support them.
“We also need to ensure that the work we are doing to fund, support, research and innovate is recognised and trusted by governments, business and industry, to help effect positive change so that all disabled people can make the journeys they choose.”
The Motability Foundation will continue to oversee the Motability Scheme, which will retain its existing name and branding.