The Union of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation (UPIAS) was an early disability rights organisation in the United Kingdom.
They defined impairment as "lacking part of or all of a limb, or having a defective limb, organism or mechanism of the body" and disability as "the disadvantage or restriction of activity caused by contemporary organisation which takes no or little account of people who have physical impairments and thus excludes them from the mainstream of social activities".
[7][8][9] UPIAS was disbanded by agreement of the members in November 1990 and the £50 in assets was given to BCODP, the British Council of Organisations of Disabled People.
[2] In 2018-19, a substantial number of documents from the leadership of UPIAS were donated to the Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP) archive project.
Many of these documents remain closed, not available for public inspection, including the 80 Circulars that were produced as a confidential means for UPIAS members to candidly develop their political thinking (Appendix F).
The Davis' pioneered independent living, by commissioning their own housing scheme at Grove Road[10] in Sutton in Ashfield.