ASIST, CHADSMOOR

The charity was established in July 1994. Since inception, Asist's core activity has been the delivery of one-to-one, issue based advocacy services to people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or mental health conditions. This service has developed over the years to encompass all of the County of Staffordshire and the City of Stoke-on-Trent supported from our offices in Stoke, Stafford, Burton, Harplands and Chadsmoor. In the last 12 months the organisation has successfully supported over 2000 clients across the region. In 2000, Asist launched a semi-autonomous project in Stoke-on-Trent called REACH to support self advocacy amongst groups of people with a learning disability.

REACH Project Workers work with communities of people with a learning disablity to elect local representatives who come together to form a REACH Parliament. In 2007, Asist successfully bid to become the provider of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate Service (IMCA) in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, and in 2009 Asist was also appointed as provider of the Independent Mental Health Advocate Service (IMHA) in the region. Alongside its advocacy services, Asist has developed considerable experience in such things as the provision of accessible information and the creation of communication tools. In 2010 Asist also became accredited as a satellite centre of the British Institute of Learning Disabilities and now delivers the National Advocacy Qualification.

Asist was one of the first organisations to become accredited with the Quality Performance Mark for Advocacy Services, including the additional assessment for delivery of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate Service. Asist is accredited as an organisation that is positive about employing people with disabilities and has held Investors in People accreditation for over 10 years in recognition of its investment in training and developing staff.