Society for the Physically Disabled changes its name to SPD

SINGAPORE - The Society for the Physically Disabled has renamed itself SPD to better reflect how it helps people with different kinds of disabilities.

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Here is the statement from SPD:

Society for the Physically Disabled, one of the largest voluntary welfare organisations in Singapore, announced today that it will now operate under the name 'SPD'.

By dropping 'physically disabled' from its name, the organisation seeks to reposition itself as one that serves people of other disabilities as well, and not just those with physical disabilities. What is more important is that it removes the stigma of disabilities for those receiving care and support from SPD.

The announcement coincided with SPD's 50th year anniversary celebrations and marked another important milestone in the organisation's long history.

"After years of building our range of expertise for people with physical disabilities, we realised that our services could benefit people of other disabilities as well. While we have begun offering our services to them from a few years ago, we saw a great opportunity in our 50th anniversary to adopt a new name to better reflect the wider community whom we serve," said Ms Chia Yong Yong, President of SPD.

"Our partners and many in the social service and health-care sectors have always known us as SPD, the abbreviation for Society for the Physically Disabled. We felt it was important to retain this part of the identity that we had established over the years," she added.

With this name change, SPD has also adopted a new logo. The intersecting "P" and "D" is symbolic of partnership, which reflects its mission of being committed to working in partnership with people with disabilities to develop their potential to the fullest so that its beneficiaries can be self-reliant and independent.

Green alludes to the nurturing environment that SPD provides and suggests growth and development and how SPD aims to help people with disabilities achieve through its programmes and services. Orange represents care, warmth and compassion. It also captures the essence of hope and serves to instill confidence in people with disabilities and encourages them to approach life with optimism.

Established in November 1964, the SPD started out with providing just supported employment at its sheltered workshop to those who had difficulties finding jobs due to their disabilities. It was then known as Society for Aid to the Paralysed before it became Society for the Physically Disabled (SPD) in 1998.

Now it serves close to 4,700 people with disabilities through about 20 programmes and services that encompass rehabilitation, day care, early intervention, employment support, sheltered workshop, vocational training, education and social support.

The organisation's headquarters is located at SPD Ability Centre in Tiong Bahru and also operates three satellite centres across the island - SPD@Jurong, SPD@Tampines and SPD@Toa Payoh - so that its programmes are easily accessible from all over Singapore.

For its strong volunteer, donor and financial management system, SPD was awarded the Non-Profit Organisation Award by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre in 2006.

More recently, it received the inaugural Charity Governance Award (CGA) 2012 in the large charities category. The CGA was an initiative of the Charity Council aimed at promoting good governance in the charity sector by recognising charities that have adopted the highest standards of governance.