Chris McCausland to deliver Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message in call to end the discrimination of disabled people

Bring Access to Work waiting time down to under four weeks, says Strictly winner Chris McCausland.

Images: https://mediaassets.channel4.com/share/9F2570C5-2163-4B20-A65B9B50E944397A/

Comedian and Strictly Come Dancing winner, Chris McCausland, will use Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message to personally urge employers to tackle discrimination of disabled people and for improvements to be made to the government-backed grant, Access to Work, that covers access costs for disabled people in employment. 

Department for Work and Pensions’ figures estimate that disabled people make up almost a quarter (23%) of the working-age population. But rates of unemployment among disabled people remain statistically high with 50% of disabled people of working age without employment, that's double the national average. Having lost his eyesight in his twenties, Chris also points out that 75% of blind and partially sighted people of working age are without employment, three times the national average. 

Having spent the last 13 weeks wowing the nation with his magnificent dancing Chris has reflected on how disabled people are underestimated. He believes that “Disabled people are often some of the most resilient, creative and determined people you will ever likely meet. We have to be in daily life and that makes us valuable people to have on the team. We can even win national dance competitions, just saying!”

Chris asks if more can be done to address the delays that disabled people often face when using Access to Work. He fears that these delays to workplace adjustments can prevent employers from seeking to employ disabled people in the first place, even though they are qualified and able to work. 

Access to Work is a government service that provides funding for workplace support and access technology for disabled people. When disabled people secure employment they can access the service to obtain the support or technology they need to do the job they have been employed to do. The average wait is around 43 days (as of April 2024).  Chris says this timeframe should be shorter and says he would like it to be brought down to under four weeks as soon as possible, to enable disabled people to get on and do the job they have been employed to do. Chris points out that delays strip away the “confidence, dignity, and purpose” of disabled people.

Chris’s Alternative Christmas Message will air on Channel 4 at 16:50 on Christmas Day

First airing in 1993, Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message has served as an alternative to the monarch’s annual televised address to the nation to bring viewers a thought-provoking message that is pertinent to the events of the past year. The message has previously featured an illustrious and varied selection of presenters, including the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; whistle-blower Edward Snowden; Afghan war veteran Major Andrew Stockton; William Pooley, the British nurse who survived Ebola; Katie Piper; Quentin Crisp; the Reverend Jesse Jackson; Doreen and Neville Lawrence; children who survived the Grenfell Tower disaster; The Simpsons; 9/11 survivor Genelle Guzman; a ‘deepfake’ digitally created depiction of Her Majesty The Queen, Ameca, one of the world’s most advanced robots, who delivered a speech generated entirely by AI, and most recently, in 2023 Stephen Fry spoke about the rise in anti-Semitism.  

The 2025 Alternative Christmas Message was commissioned for Channel 4 by Timothy Hancock and Cimran Shah. Neil Breakwell was the Executive Producer for October Films with Production Manager, Holly Lawrence, Neil Bonner directing, and Alfie Turner, producing. 

Full transcript:
*Chris with a mouthful of mince pie*

Oh um sorry.  You um caught me with a mouth full of mince pie there. I umm. I love mince pies. 
 
I love mince pies so much. I love minced pies so much that I've had to enforce a rule that says I'm not allowed to eat any until my last day of work before Christmas and well, as you may know, it’s been quite full on this year.  My feet have barely touched the ground and it has gone right up to the wire and I am just making up for lost time really. 

I don't care if they're the posh ones or the cheap ones, I don’t care if they’re the big ones or those tiny little dinky ones.  Weather it’s got a solid top or a lattice crown.  

I will never discriminate against any sort of mince pie, all of them are equal to me and will no doubt meet the same undignified end as I try and fit it all in my mouth in one go.

Oh, that’s quite an alcohol-y one. 

Discrimination is never a good thing. Well, I mean sometimes I suppose. Many, many years ago before I got into comedy, I applied to be a spy for MI5. I got down to the last 30 out of 3000 applicants. The top 1% of potential spy’s that this country had to offer before they decided no, a blind spy wasn’t what they were looking for but, you know, I think they had a point. I think sometimes discrimination can be vital for the safety of the nation but usually, we can do better. 

I feel very lucky to be born into one of the most developed, relatively accepting and progressive countries in the world.  But why is it that it’s a country where 50% of disabled people of working age are without employment, that's twice the national average.

Why is it that 75% of blind and partially sighted people of working age are without employment. That's three times the national average.  Is that discrimination? Well, I would argue it is, so let’s try and fix it eh? I think the government can commit to something better than what they already do. 

Access to Work is a vital government service that provides workplace support and access technology to disabled people. It is wonderful that it exists, but I believe it’s under resourced. I’ve heard too many stories of disabled people securing employment, to then only have to wait far too long to obtain the support that they need. 

The national average is 43 days. This needs to be shorter. I want to see this wait time brought down to under four weeks. That seems fair, doesn’t it? 

Delays to this service strip away our confidence, our dignity, and our purpose in the workplace and I think, probably, also risk an employer’s desire to recruit anybody else in the future who may require adjustments. 

Disabled people are often some of the most resilient, creative and determined people you will ever likely meet. We have to be in daily life and that makes us valuable people to have on the team. We can even win national dance competitions, just saying! 

Disability is everywhere. It’s just something that happens. It could happen to friends, family, loved ones. It could happen to you.

I mean after all; you know what us disabled people say. There are only really two types of people in this world. Those of us that are disabled, and those of us that aren't disabled…. yet.

So let me raise a toast and say, you know, do unto others as you would want done unto yourself under similar circumstances, or something like that, and treat everyone equally, the way I do my minced pies. 

Merry Christmas!

Notes to editors:

• Department for Work and Pensions’ figures estimate that disabled people make up almost a quarter (23%) of the working-age population. Source UK disability statistics: Prevalence and life experiences - House of Commons Library
• 50% of disabled people of working age without employment, that's double the national average. Source The employment of disabled people 2024 - GOV.UK
• 75% of blind and partially sighted people of working age are without employment, three times the national average. The employment rate for blind and partially sighted people is the same as it was in 1991. There has been no overall change in a generation. Source: RNIB (2019).