Advocacy Consortium UK (ACUK)

Membership

The members of this group either represent national Third Sector organisations providing support to independent advocacy schemes, or local/regional support networks or organisations/individuals operating at national level working with independent advocacy.

Agreed Principles

We aim to be informed by service users, all types of advocacy and organisations throughout the UK to:

1. Meet as a group and offer mutual support and share information and best practice.
2. Collaborate and consult on relevant initiatives impacting on good advocacy practice.
3. Create partnership opportunities for members to work together.
4. Be inclusive and open to all who meet the above membership criteria.

Scope / Jurisdiction

The scope of the group is to share advocacy expertise and intelligence, offer mutual support with members, and create opportunities to promote and enhance advocacy provision across the UK.

Reflecting Grassroots Advocacy

1. The consortium is about being a national body that, through its constituent members, could reflect the needs and aspirations of the grassroots at a national level to government.
2. Members support one another but are not in a position to support individual members.
3. We do not dictate policy but reflect the policies of the members that in turn reflect the needs of their membership.

Following the recent national news about abuse in care homes, ACUK facilitated a seminar in London on 8th August 2011.  This was an opportunity for advocates to address the subject of  the role of advocacy in abuse and scandal situations.  Speakers at the event were Rob Greig from NDTi; Action on Elder Abuse and Rob Harris from Advocacy Experience.  You can read notes from the table discussions at the seminar here.