Unseen Aware
In the UK, just over 1 in 5 of the UK population are disabled, with 80% of these individuals having a hidden disability. Incredibly, that’s over 12 million people in the UK living with a disability that cannot be seen.
We collaborated with social entrepreneur Simon Houghton to help him transform how retail and public-sector organisations across the UK create better experiences for their staff and customers with unseen disabilities.
The Challenge
Many companies and organisations in the UK aspire to better serve those with unseen disabilities, whether they are customers purchasing products and services or team members contributing to the workforce.
While existing disability awareness schemes are available, they often place the responsibility on individuals with disabilities to self-advocate for assistance.
Furthermore, these schemes often lack any meaningful training and offer limited ongoing support for organisations.
Simon partnered with Candle Digital to change this.
Having already achieved significant success with his deaf awareness movement, Simon approached us with an important vision.
He wanted to create a powerful initiative that equips organisations across the UK with the confidence and skills to support individuals with unseen disabilities.
Our task was to translate Simon’s in-depth expertise and personal experience with an unseen disability into a scalable onboarding programme and platform to realise his ambitious goals and help his new movement flourish.
“As a deaf person, I know the day-to-day challenges of a hidden disability all too well. I want to give people the confidence to approach and interact with people that have a hidden disability without fear. Thankfully Candle Digital have helped me bring this vision to life.”
Unseen Aware
The Process
As an experienced hidden disabilities champion, Simon had a clear vision of what he wanted his movement to achieve. He needed a digital solution to onboard his clients quickly and at scale, in a way that was engaging, practical and provided a lasting impact.
Through our Clarity workshop, we worked with Simon to refine his ideas and define the key deliverables for a pilot program.
Together, we developed a personalised blueprint that outlined the structure of his onboarding programme, the technical platform requirements, and a phased 12-month implementation plan.
The Product
Guided by our expertise in learning design, we co-created an intensive online course to introduce participants to the Unseen Aware movement. The programme focused on building the skills and confidence needed to navigate conversations about unseen disabilities effectively.
Rich media assets were curated and developed to create a high-impact, visually engaging online course. To reinforce behavioural change over time, the core course was complemented by an extensive email sequence designed to encourage teams to regularly meet and discuss key aspects of the movement.
An additional resource bank was integrated into the programme, providing a reliable reference point for learners as needed.
We also incorporated confidence checks before and after the course to help us gauge impact.
Since its launch, the course has already been adapted for a variety of different pathways, including customer-facing, colleague-facing and patient-facing versions.
The Platform
After an in-depth analysis of the target audience, we developed a custom, mobile-ready learning platform to host the movement’s courses, resources, and email chain, powered by an integrated CRM.
To address Simon’s unique delivery requirements – where different cohorts of learners start at varying times – we designed custom grouping workflows to align with real-world contexts.
Custom reports were built to meet the needs of both internal and external stakeholders, ensuring seamless tracking of course completions. This was critical to ensure that on completion, participants received a pin badge as a tangible symbol of their commitment to the movement.
Given the early-stage nature of the initiative, the WordPress-based platform was designed with flexibility in mind, allowing for future developments and adaptations.
The Rollout
We supported Simon in integrating his new digital offering into the Unseen Aware movement and successfully delivering a pilot to a key retail client.
Building on this initial success, the Unseen Aware movement has gained real momentum, attracting additional clients and expanding to several retail centres across the UK.
Major plans are underway to extend its reach to more organisations in the near future. You can find out more on the Unseen Aware website.
“If it wasn’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have got this off the ground.”
Founder, Unseen Aware