Providing support and promoting respect for everyone with a visible difference

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Our impact

We want to create a future where everyone with a visible difference can live the life they want. Find out how our work is already making a difference.

We are here to support the one in five people in the UK who are living with a mark, scar or condition that makes them look different.

People with visible differences tell us about the transformational impact our work can have. Our life-changing services build confidence and resilience. They give people with visible differences or disfigurements, the tools to manage their feelings, cope in different social settings, handle other people’s reactions or deal with transitions such as starting school.

On this page, we provide a summary of our activities and impact for the financial year 2024 – 2025 and how they relate to our strategic goals.

Improving access to support

Our first goal is to ensure everyone with a visible difference or disfigurement has access to the support they need.

One of the ways we measure this is through our annual surveys. In our initial survey with Savanta, 39% of people reported that limited availability was a barrier to accessing psychological support. This dropped to 24% in our 2024 survey.

Another measurement is the number of people enquiring about or referring to our services. We received 2,853 referrals (from individuals or from professionals) across our skin camouflage and wellbeing services in 2024/25.

Our support in numbers

  • 1,995

    Clients directly supported

    broken down into 1,192 skin camouflage clients and 823 wellbeing clients.

  • 21

    New Campaigners

    recruited to receive media and public speaking training to share campaign messages.

  • 89,451

    Active users

    to our online self-help information or peer support through the forum.

Improving the wellbeing of people using our services

Satisfaction and outcomes are consistently high, with 87% of clients stating that the service helped them to manage their appearance-related concerns, and 96% of clients reporting that they were satisfied with the service they received.

We use the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS) to measure the impact of our counselling, Peer Group Chat, and Skin Camouflage Services. Comparing the wellbeing scores before and after support showed a positive shift in wellbeing from an average metric score of 21.1 at the ‘pre’ stage to 22.8 at the ‘post’ stage (shift of 1.7).

The level of wellbeing indicated by the scores suggests that, on average, clients from from a lower-to-mid level of wellbeing before their sessions to a mid-level afterwards.

We’ve highlighted the experiences of some of our previous clients below. For more examples, please see our real stories.

Client experiences

Allie's story

Allie has experienced cruel comments because of her scar. With the help of Changing Faces, she’s moved past the negativity and found something positive to strive for.

Kate's story

Kate has experienced inappropriate comments and stares because of her visible difference. She hopes education will ensure others don’t go through this in the future.

Romeo's story

Romeo spent most of his life trying to cover up his burns, but support from Changing Faces has helped him to unlock his confidence.

A woman is smiling at the camera with her elbow on a table and her hand propped under her chin. She wears big aviator glasses and big, heart-shaped yellow earrings.

Katy's story

Katy struggled to rebuild her confidence after wearing a face mask during the pandemic, but her experience has made her more determined to speak out.

Who are we reaching?

We monitor the demographics of our clients to understand who we’re currently reaching and who might potentially be underrepresented.

  • Gender: 78% of clients identified as female, 21% male, and 0.3% self-identifying.
  • Disability: 20% of clients identified as being disabled. 
  • Age range: The majority of our clients (81%) were aged 25+, with 19% of the clients we saw were children and young people (aged under 25). 
    • The most represented groups, by age, were those aged 30-39 (21%), 40-49 (21%) and 20-29 (20%).
    • Only 9% of our clients were aged 65+, and only 6% under 16.
  • Ethnicity: 60% of clients identified as White (British or other), 20% as Asian/Asian British, 9% as Black/African/Caribbean/Black British, 5% as Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Groups, and 3% Self-described.
  • Type of visible difference: While clients may have more than one condition, the main conditions seen were skin conditions at 48% (of which, Vitiligo was the most prevalent) scarring at 32%, birthmarks at 6%, and burns and cancer-related conditions both at 5%.

Increase understanding

Our second strategic goal is to increase the understanding and acceptance of visible difference and disfigurement, whilst reducing prejudice and discrimination.

Some of the ways we measure this are through the reach of published stories and media coverage containing the experiences of those with visible differences.

Awareness raising in numbers

  • 57

    Real stories

    published, with over 86,000 unique page views

  • 228

    Media hits

    228 of these included quotes or stories from someone with a visible difference

  • 132m

    Total media reach

    Media pieces that included quotes or stories from people living with a visible difference reached 132 million people.

The impact of our campaigns

In 2024/25 our campaigns aimed to raise awareness of the impact that negative behaviours can have on people with a visible difference.

  • For Face Equality Week 2025 we reclaimed the canvas, bringing our diverse community into full view, to be seen, valued, and celebrated. Face Equality Week was a celebration of those with visible differences for who they are, their passions and centred some stories of creativity.
  • Our A Face for Radio campaign calls for Britain’s brands, casting agencies and media owners to provide greater representation of people with visible differences. We secured 46 pieces of media coverage, reaching 16.7 millionpeople, and reached over 1.25 million through social media.
  • In total, we reached over 315 million people through 492 media hits. Of these, 380 included quotes or stories from someone with a visible difference, reaching 258 million people.

Our education work

We continue to work with teachers and health professionals, both of whom have an important role in supporting people with a visible difference. Our education resources were downloaded 3,333 times, with our PSHE-accredited A World of Difference resources accounting for 78% of these.

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Get involved in our work

Donate, campaign, fundraise, volunteer or partner with us – whether you’re an individual supporter or a business, there are loads of ways to support our work.

Our annual reports and accounts

View our annual reports and accounts to see our income sources and how we use the funds we raise to support people with a visible difference.

Donate now

By making a kind donation through our secure online form, you will help us continue our vital work supporting people living with a visible difference.