Thank you to all our current and former clients, partners, friends and staff for their kind words about CHANGE after our announcement that Advonet will close the service at the end of this month (March 2026). We are very grateful for these and for the many comments, suggestions and questions you sent us regarding our closure and what it means for you and the legacy of CHANGE.
We’ve consolidated this into a list of questions which we hope will give you the information you need. This page will be regularly updated as more detail becomes available and more questions are received. Please do keep sending any questions we’ve not fully addressed below to us at CHANGE@advonet.org.uk
Last Updated Tuesday March 24th 2026
General Questions
A number of responses to the news we conveyed last week expressed regret at the decision and asked about various ways in which CHANGE could be kept going or at least that its legacy could be continued or its work preserved. We received questions and comments that included…
Is the decision final? Is there anything that could reverse the decision?
Have all sources of funding been considered? Could CHANGE’s larger clients discuss project funding of Advonet to continue to update and produce new Easy Read resources.
Could organisations like Mencap or others somehow be involved in salvaging some part of it?
Is there no possibility of splitting CHANGE out of Advonet and making it into a separate social enterprise?
CHANGE’s archives contain valuable research projects. What will happen to this work? Are there opportunities to ensure learning is not lost?
It is a final decision that Advonet will be closing its CHANGE service on Tuesday, March 31st 2026.
We are exploring all options to preserve CHANGE’s legacy and provide access to our Easy Read information, images and resources beyond the scheduled closure date. We are aiming to…
help clients who have commissioned work from us to update these resources and create similar high-quality accessible information in future.
help users of our image bank who want to continue to produce Easy Read materials with our images and in our style.
ensure that as much of our work as possible continues to be available to make information accessible to people with learning disabilities.
It’s very important to us that any future custodian of the materials that CHANGE have produced is an organisation with long-term stability and a clear mission and purpose, who…
has the technical capability to ensure resources continue to be available.
shares our commitment to upholding the rights and improving the lives of people with learning disabilities.
believes in the importance of lived experience and co-delivery in creating accessible information.
We have ongoing discussions with interested parties and we will update the FAQs when any developments and future plans are confirmed.
Commissions Clients’ Questions
What copyright protection will there be on resources we have commissioned?
Will there be something to prevent other people from copying and distributing material you have created for us?
We are aiming to balance the needs of clients who have commissioned CHANGE resources to have freedom to update and create new resources with the requirement to protect those resources from being copied without approval from the commissioning client. The revised terms and conditions provided to clients who have commissioned CHANGE to provide Easy Read resources will grant as much freedom as possible without creating the possibility that resources and images could be generally used for commercial gain etc.
Can you send us the design files and images so that we can still continue to use our leaflet in the future with the possibility of updating links and contact information?
Yes. CHANGE and Advonet are eager to minimise the impact of the cessation of Easy Read services for all our clients.
Anyone who has an ongoing requirement to update materials created by CHANGE, to produce new materials in a similar style, or to present the work in a different format, should request a link to download the design files and images so that this can continue after the cessation of CHANGE services.
A standard charge of £195 may apply for this. (There will be no charge for registered charities or private individuals working with people with learning disabilities).
The design files will be in INDD format (Adobe InDesign). An Adobe InDesign licence is required to fully access and edit these. We can also re-supply in PDF format on request. Minor editing of our resources in PDF format will be possible with an Adobe Acrobat Pro licence. Image files will be supplied in png or jpg format, which can be opened and edited with any image software.
We will email a WeTransfer link for you to download the files. The download link will be available for at least 28 days from the email date.
If you supply us with design files and images for resources that we have commissioned previously, are there any restrictions on modifying these and using them however we want to?
We will include an addendum to the terms and conditions of use with the email. This addendum must be accepted in order to download. This addendum will remove the prior restrictions on use of design files and images by the commissioning organisation and any funding partners, other than to prohibit use for training of AI, commercial gain, the compiling of standalone image libraries or databases, and to prevent transfer of rights to a third party.
Can I see the licence terms for using the design files and images supplied?
The addendum to the existing Ts & Cs will be supplied with the download link and will be linked here as soon as it is finalised.
How can I access images of a similar style once the CHANGE illustrators and the image bank are no longer available? (for updating or creating new resources in a series)
As detailed above, we hope that the images already created, including those in the library and others in CHANGE’s archives, will be available again in the near future.
We would prefer that any organisation who becomes custodian of the images is able to expand the library over time and create new and bespoke images for you. We will confirm whether this is a possibility as soon as we can.
Image Bank Subscribers’ Questions
When will the image bank close?
The image bank will close on Tuesday, March 31st 2026. We recommend users download any images they know they will need in the immediate future before this point.
As detailed above, we are making every effort to ensure that alternative ways to access CHANGE resources will be available so that users can continue to benefit from the CHANGE library in creating their Easy Read resources. We expect that there will be, at minimum, a period of several weeks when access to the images is not publicly available.
What happens to my annual subscription which runs beyond March 31st 2026?
If the Image Bank closure is before your renewal date, we will refund the unused portion of your subscription on a pro-rata basis. Refunds will be made automatically to the original payment method wherever possible. If an automatic refund fails we will contact you.
Can I continue to use images I have downloaded from the Image Bank?
Yes. Images downloaded during your active subscription period may be used indefinitely within your own organisation’s resources, as long as that is not for commercial gain or the training of AI. However, systematically downloading images to compile a standalone library, database, or archive for general future use is strictly prohibited. This right of use is not transferable to any other person or organisation, other than by permission of the copyright holder.
What copyright protection will there be on resources that we have created ourselves using the image bank?
The resources that you’ve created are protected by any copyright that you’ve asserted over them. The images are protected by CHANGE’s copyright and will remain so even though Advonet are closing the CHANGE service. We will update you with the details of any new copyright holder in future if Advonet pass ownership of the copyright to another organisation.
How can I access images of a similar style once the image bank is no longer available? (for updating or creating new resources in a series)
As detailed above, we hope that the images already created, including those in the library and others in CHANGE’s archives, will be available again in the near future.
We would prefer that any organisation who becomes custodian of the images is able to expand the library over time and create new and bespoke images for you. We will confirm whether this is a possibility as soon as we can.
I used the CHANGE image bank for academic research and working in a charity role and would hate to see it completely disappear. Is there any possibility of it being made freely available to the public (perhaps Creative Commons licensed)
We have considered releasing the images under an open licence (for example, Creative Commons). However, open licensing reduces control and makes it harder to prevent unethical reuse such as commercial exploitation and AI training by profit-driven organisations with no interest in the rights and lives of people with learning disabilities. Our preference is therefore to identify a responsible long-term custodian with a clear mission and the capacity not only to guarantee ongoing access, but also to develop the library over time and keep it aligned with CHANGE’s values.
We also want to avoid diluting the strength of copyright protection that clients of our commissioned work and users of our image bank want to see preserved. CHANGE wants to protect the library of valuable resources our customers and partners have created, with images that relate to their organisations’ mission, ethos and brand, and give them control over how these commissioned materials and images are used in future.
How can I access images of a similar style once the CHANGE illustrators and the image bank are no longer available? (for updating or creating new resources in a series)
As detailed above, we hope that the images already created, including those in the library and others in CHANGE’s archives, will be available again in the near future.
We would prefer that any organisation who becomes custodian of the images is able to expand the library over time and create new and bespoke images for you. We will confirm whether this is a possibility as soon as we can.
Web Shop Customers’ Questions
What will happen to the Parenting Collection and Sexuality Collection of Easy Read resources? Will Advonet continue selling these or will I be able to purchase these from somewhere else?
The current inventory of books will be orderable through our web shop until Friday, March 27th 2026, subject to availability. Some titles are low in stock and CHANGE will not be able to order reprints to fill orders of less than 50 copies of any title.
We are exploring how these can continue to be available and will update the FAQ when any arrangements are confirmed.
We would welcome approaches from organisations or individuals interested in continuing to distribute these physical resources after the CHANGE service closes. We’d also very much like to hear from organisations and professionals in the field who would be interested in the ongoing update and maintenance of our widely-used Parenting and Sexuality collections. Please email CHANGE@advonet.org.uk if you or your organisation are interested in this.
Lived Experience Review (CHANGE’s Words 2 Pictures team)
Will the Words 2 Pictures team of people with lived experience of learning disability still be available to review my Easy Read documents? Is this something that Asking You will now offer?
This may be available on request by contacting Asking You, Advonet’s continuing services for adults with learning disabilities. The staff who facilitated these reviews and reported the feedback from our lived experience volunteers will continue to work for Asking You.
The CHANGE Website
Will the free resources on the website still be available?
We are working to ensure that any organisation inheriting CHANGE’s legacy will continue to make available the current free resources, and will confirm arrangements once agreed. We will make these available via Asking You where this is not possible.
Our organisation signposts to resources on the CHANGE website. Will these links be broken?
A detailed plan for redirects of links which go directly to a specific URL within changepeople.org is being worked on. We will try to ensure that any link you host continues to lead to a page where the most relevant information is available.
CHANGE’s Social Media
What will happen to CHANGE’s Social Media accounts?
CHANGE’s Facebook, Bluesky and LinkedIn accounts will not be staffed and will not post after March 31st 2026. Between now and then we hope to share with you some of the history of CHANGE and its achievements through these channels.
If and when we are successful in finding a suitable organisation to be the custodian of CHANGE’s legacy, including the image bank, we will work with them to transfer these accounts.
We’d also encourage everyone to follow Asking You on Facebook to keep up to date with Advonet’s ongoing work with adults with learning disabilities, providing services and delivering projects, co-delivered by our staff with lived experience.
CHANGE’s YouTube channel will become the channel of Asking You, as explained below.
Will the videos on the YouTube channel still be available? There’s some brilliant videos on there.
Yes! We’ll keep the existing videos about learning disabilities available in the same place on YouTube and the name of the channel will change to Asking You. Many of the videos feature adults with learning disabilities who are former or current staff and members of Asking You as well as CHANGE. Some of the older lived-experience videos have reached a large audience internationally and remain valuable resources, and there is no cost to keeping them online. We will make sure the existing links work and people can still find and watch them.
Between now and the end of March we will be celebrating the great work CHANGE has done over so many years through this website and our social media channels. We’d love to hear about what CHANGE has meant to you.
All the best!
The team at CHANGE
