About Us

Our history

Optua was first established in 1981 as Mid Suffolk Rethink for Disabled People. 1981 was the International Year of Disabled People and the organisation was set up in response to a lack of services and facilities in the largely rural area of Mid Suffolk.

The organisation became a registered charity in 1983 and since then has continued to develop its services in response to the needs of disabled people in Suffolk.

By June 1996, the organisation had become Rethink Disability, usually known as Rethink for short.

Now it has become Optua, which is taken from the Latin translation of 'Be your best'. This has become our new motto and matches our aspirations that disabled people can achieve what they want to achieve.