Providing support and promoting respect for everyone with a visible difference

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Catherine introduces our new condition-specific resources

Deputy CEO Catherine introduces our new condition-specific resources, explains why we created them and talks about how they can benefit you.


    When we launched our new website last March, we promised we would continue to develop and improve it with new content and features to support our visible difference community. To help us develop the new site, we consulted website users – and many people told us that they wanted more information about specific conditions.

    I am excited to be sharing with you a brand-new section of our website dedicated to condition-specific support. With the help of specialist organisations and charities, we have created a set of in-depth resources providing information and guidance about some different conditions, marks and scars which affect our community.

    We’ve started with the ten most common conditions amongst our community:

    This is just the start – if you don’t see your condition, mark or scar on the list, don’t worry. We will be expanding the range of conditions covered by our guides over the coming months.

    What do the pages contain?

    Each page contains basic information about the condition – including signs and symptoms, causes and treatments available. We also provide guidance on how you can access the support services we offer to those impacted by a visible difference – from our self-help resources to our counselling and wellbeing support service, Skin Camouflage Service and much more.

    Finally, we signpost other organisations who can provide specialist support to those affected by a particular condition, mark or scar.

    Why did we create these guides?

    We carried out a consultation when developing our new website. About half of those who responded told us that they are not only looking for help to cope with their visible difference, but also for specific information about their scar, mark or condition and to hear from other people with the same condition.

    We already have a fantastic array of real stories from members of the visible difference community, which we are adding to all the time. You can see them here and even share your own story if you’d like to.

    As well as this, we wanted to better serve our users’ needs by providing the kind of in-depth, condition-related information our users were looking for. That’s what the new section of our site is all about.

    Working with our partners

    We couldn’t have carried out this project without the generosity of the VTCT Foundation, who provided the funding we needed to create these resources.

    We also recognised that we are not the experts – there are plenty of other organisations out there who provide specialist support relating to specific conditions, marks and scars. We worked closely with these organisations to get their input and feedback, and this way we were able to come up with content that we hope is of most value to you, our community.

    You can also see many of these organisations listed in the “other organisations” section of each of the pages. We will continue to seek their feedback now the pages are live.

    What’s next?

    We will continue to expand this section of our site to add new conditions and serve more people in the visible difference community.

    We also want to hear from you – each page contains an optional pop-up survey, so if you have ideas about how we could improve the content, please do fill it in. You can also email your thoughts and suggestions to [email protected].

    In the meantime, take a look at our condition-specific information – we hope you find it useful!

    Access our condition-specific resources

    Find out about specific conditions which can affect the appearance and learn what support is available to help you manage the impacts.

    View resources now

    You might also like

    Condition-specific resources

    Links to condition-specific organisations and other useful resources for people living with a visible difference, grouped to help you find what you need.

    Types of visible difference

    Find out about the main types of visible difference and disfigurement. We also share links to real stories and further information.

    Services & support

    Learn about our Skin Camouflage Service and other specialist wellbeing services, including our support line, Online Community and one-to-one sessions.