November 2025 episode of In Case You Missed It (ICYMI) podcast, featuring sector-led interviews, key insights and information for organisations across the VCSE Sector.
Show Notes:
FUNDING IN FIVE
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Commonwealth Foundation: https://grants.commonwealthfoundation.com/prog/september_2025_annual_grants_call_/
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Common Ground Resilience Fund: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/common-ground-award-prospectus/common-ground-award-prospectus
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Help the Homeless Funding:
https://www.help-the-homeless.org.uk/
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Family Matters Microgrants
https://www.stoke.gov.uk/info/20009/children_and_families/699/family_matters_micro-grants
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Get help and support from our friendly team: support@vast.org.uk
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CONTRACT OPPORTUNITIES
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CAMHS dynamic purchasing system: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/7bd0accd-9a61-41b2-bca7-23cb96fd2731
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SPOTLIGHTS
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VSCOG: https://vast.org.uk/vscog/
Healthy Communities Alliance – find : https://vast.org.uk/ssothealthycommunities/
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Stoke City Foundation Strategy:
https://www.stokecityfc.com/foundation/
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Link to full conversation with Laura Nicholls: https://youtu.be/jN8TZCgEj-c
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Civil Society Covenant:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/civil-society-covenant-programme
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Link to full conversation with Patrick Myers:
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OPPORTUNITIES TO SHAPE
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Stoke-on-Trent Cycling and Walking Infrastructure:
https://www.stoke.gov.uk/LCWIP
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Stoke-on-Trent Local Plan:
https://www.stoke.gov.uk/localplan
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Staffordshire University / Caudwell Children – autism survey:
https://vast.org.uk/events/
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ICB wheelchair user survey:
Share your feedback on NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Wheelchair Service
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Haywood Foundation Survey:
https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/jQD236WTuLkEdbQaMBbbfK4L
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Healthwatch:
https://www.healthwatchstokeontrent.co.uk/news/2025-08-11/please-sign-our-petition-review-decision-abolish-independent-local-healthwatch
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
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SCVYS Coproduction Community of Practice
https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/76Lu6N2jERgwesTQdYrEKP9f
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VAST events and networks:
https://vast.org.uk/events/
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What is advocacy? Speaking personally, with Becky Banks, Asist: https://youtu.be/gjqt-RRf7AE
Hello and welcome to, in case you missed it, the latest installment of our halfhour headlong dash through some of the highlights that we at BAST have come across in the last month. I’m Tom, strategic leading officer here at VATS. And I’m Steven, community development officer at Vast. Thanks for lending a hand with presenting duties, Steven. I know you’re quite new to VAS, so what are your first impressions? Uh, great to be honest. There’s just so much to vast. It’s a really apt name and it’s been fantastic to be part of a new community development team from the beginning. That’s great to hear. Um, and I’ve been learning new things about you, too. So, here’s what’s in store for this month’s show. As always, we’ll bring news of current funding and contract opportunities, a spotlight on some of the headline developments locally and nationally, opportunities for our sector to shape and influence what our colleagues in health and local government are doing, and some key dates to jot down in your diary. We also love to bring perspectives from across the sector to the podcast. This month, we’ll be hearing from Becky Banks at Assist about what makes advocacy tick, as well as from Laura Nichols of the Stoke City Foundation following the recent launch of their new strategy and Patrick Meyers from Thrive at Five about the recent unveiling of the civil society covenant. Sounds great. Let’s go. Now, as we always say, we do know it can be tough to keep a breast of everything. We can’t fit all of the sector going on into what’s really the length of a short bus ride, but we hope that we can get you closer to the little details that will make a difference in your work. Our sector is full of the most knowledgeable and well-connected people we can think of. And some of what we cover you may already know, but we hope there will be something useful for you in the next hour. We’re aiming to give you just enough to judge what might be useful to you so that you can go away fully equipped to find out more for yourself. Here’s the key thing. We won’t be talking about any one thing in great detail. So, please do take a look at the show notes and there’ll be a link for everything that we cover. First up is funding in five. This is our regular roundup of contract and funding opportunities that are currently available to VCSEs here in Stoke on Trent or within a stone throw of the city. Several grant funding opportunities are currently being promoted. So again, check the show notes for the appropriate links. We talked through several opportunities in last month’s podcast, and one or two of those is still open, too. The Commonwealth Foundation offers grants up to £60,000 to civil society organizations anywhere in the Commonwealth, and they’re most interested in constructive engagement between civil society and decision makers, including VCSE participation in policy development and implementation. The three key themes for this grant maker are health justice, freedom of expression, and climate justice. The catch is that the lead organization has to be registered elsewhere in the Commonwealth, but the project can involve UK organizations. So, let me check. Is there a link in the show notes? There definitely is. The deadline is quite short at the time of recording, but it’s worth looking at because this is an annual call out, so likely that the funding will be available again next year. Sounds like that might be useful for organizations working with communities that have specific links or family and community connections overseas, which could make for some interesting projects. Look out for the government’s Common Ground Resilience Fund, which totals 1.7 million nationally and is offering up to £10,000 per successful applicant. Common Ground has a really interesting purpose. As the government puts it, the bonds that hold society together are under threat from divisive forces such as political polarization, declining trust, social isolation, and economic insecurity. These bonds are formed and nurtured at a local level, and they’re often sustained by the vital work of voluntary community and social enterprise organizations that bring communities together and foster connections. So, the Common Round Award aims to recognize good practice across England in promoting social cohesion by directly investing in organizations making a positive impact. The application process is outlined on the website and closes on the 13th of November. We’ll put a link in the show notes for you. Up the homeless is a small charity with funds available to support registered charities that have a turnover of under half a million pounds to develop their buildings or buy equipment with capital funding of up to $5,000 each. There’s a final deadline for this one of the 15th of December. Uh and that’s to submit your project, but the clue’s in the name and your project needs to be enabling support for people experiencing homelessness. Stoke on Trent City Council’s family matters program continues to offer micro grants usually up to £500 to support community oriented goals. These grants are administered by Alice charity family focus YMCA North staffs and just family in their roles as locally trusted organizations. As ever, there’s a link in the show notes. And it’s always worth saying that if you feel like writing bids is not your thing, or perhaps you just don’t know whether it is yet, then VAST has a friendly and supportive team here on hand to help you find your grandfunding groove. Just drop us a line or send an email to supportvast.org.uk and we’ll be glad to talk about how we can help you. As ever, the contact details are in the show notes. VAST also maintains a vault of current and ongoing funding opportunities, including the ones we’ve mentioned, which you can find on our website as part of the podcast. We do also usually have a handful of fresh or ongoing opportunities to supply the local authority on the NHS. Public sector contract opportunities do sometimes require you to be familiar with a range of different processes, which we’ll try to explain briefly as we talk, but as ever, if you need a little more help, then contact us by emailing supportvast.org.uk. Now, at the time of recording, there are relatively fewer opportunities advertised than sometimes is the case, but we’d absolutely encourage you to keep your eyes and ears peeled. In the long run, we’re continuing to push for more approachable processes, and we know that the council and the NHS do want to help make this happen. Back in July, we ran our first session with commissioners and procurement experts from Stoke Transity City Council to help VCs get commissioning ready. And very soon we’re going to be announcing new dates for that free training in 2026. So do look out. Slowly but surely change is coming partly due to changes in legislation and also because we’re working with the city council through the VCSSE City Alliance to enable the sector to shape the change it wants to see. If you’d like to be involved in this work then there’s a link to more information about the VCSE City Alliance in the show notes. So in truth, there aren’t so many new opportunities being invi advertised at the time of recording, but there are some constants which are being advertised for the long term and which we’ve shared in previous podcasts. It might sound like slim pickings, but things can change quickly and so we’d certainly encourage you to keep your ears to the ground. Over at the NHS, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services or CAMS is looking for organizations that wish to be considered as suppliers of a full range of services across the 0 to 25 age range. And this opportunity is going to stay open until 2027. As we’ve said before, this is based on what’s called a dynamic purchasing system or DPS. Now, it sounds complicated, but really when you see a DPS mentioned, it it means that the opportunities uh like the one we’ve just outlined don’t close anytime soon. Instead, you’re applying to register your services with the council or with health. And if you’re successful, then you become eligible to supply them for a period of several years alongside other providers. It’s rarely a guarantee of worker income, but it can be a useful way to establish a supplier relationship and to grow your income generation. So think of it as a little bit like a zero hours arrangement for a supplier. Similar to a DPS, you might also see an approach called a framework. However, unlike DPS’s, frameworks do close for applications. So while you are applying to be one of several suppliers, you’re also working to a very clear deadline. There are no frameworks open at the minute, but it’s increasingly common approach. Now, we realize that we just ran into some real jargon and specialist terminology is so hard to avoid when it comes to procurement and commissioning. Hopefully, you’re still with us, but if that all feels like a foreign language to you, then do let us know and we’ll keep you in the loop for next year’s training, which can help you to get to grips with things. As always, when organizations share with us what they’re unsure or uncertain about, that’s what helps us to improve the support we offer. So in other words, do just pick up the phone and let’s have a chat. Next up, we have a scattering of our regular spotlights. These are about opportunities arising from key programs and projects that are just getting going or beginning to make a splash in the city. Now, we do often give these developments more airtime and do them more justice at forums like Visogg. That’s our voluntary sector chief officers group and the Healthy Communities Alliance. Bottom line is there’s really no substitute for a proper lowdown. But here’s a quick scan through what’s new and what’s gathering pace. Stoke City Foundation have been a major player in our city and our sector for many years. Lots of listeners will have worked with them and their staff on any number of fantastic projects down the years. They recently unveiled a new vision that spells out how they aim to connect the communities of Stocon Tren and Staffordshire by creating inclusive opportunities to play football and be active. We caught up with chief executive Laura Nichols to find out more. So, hi there Laura. Welcome to the podcast. thanks for joining us. Uh would you mind just introducing yourself briefly uh for the listeners? Yeah, sure. No problem. Thanks for having me. Um I’m Laura Nichols. I’m the director of community engagement for Stoke City Foundation. And um hot news on the grapevine is that you have a new strategy at the foundation which you launched uh very very recently. So please could you tell us in brief about the new strategy? Why Stoke City Foundation and why now? Yeah. So, I think first things first, we’ve we’ve made a name change. Um, so we were Stoke City Community Trust. We’re the charitable arm of the football club and we’ve uh decided to rebrand and relaunch a Stoke City Foundation. And I think there’s for lots of reasons, but the kind of probably the main two were that we felt it was it was necessary to have a stronger a stronger brand and a stronger name in the community. So we felt like foundation whilst it’s not revolutionary. It’s not something that other community organizations don’t use, we just felt it was the right time for us to do that. And we we also know that nothing is built without strong foundations and ultimately that’s what we’ve poured along. So we’ve kind of taken all the really good stuff that the community trust have done over the years and and lots of respect to everybody that’s that’s delivered on that, but we felt like we needed to rebrand and reshape and kind of re-energize us as a charity. So we sat down together. Um we did it very insular. It wasn’t something that we went out to consult about because we felt like we didn’t we weren’t ready to do that. We what we did was we kind of um identified everything that we’ve delivered previously, what worked, what we felt we got good impact from, what we felt really met the needs of the football club. And then we came up with a brand new strategy. So yeah, we launched that at the end of September. Um we did a stakeholder breakfast which had loads of um our stakeholders and partners from across the city and Staffordshire and then on the Saturday we did it at the men’s game against Norwich and then the women’s game on the Sunday. So it’s a really busy weekend for us at the end of September. But what we were able to do was really kind of shout loudly and proudly about our new vision and our new name. So that’s what we’re able to do. And did the team add three points to celebrate the launch of the new strategy as well? So the women’s team did, the men’s team got a draw. So, uh, all in all, a very positive weekend. Not bad at all. Fantastic. So, um, what are the key elements of the new strategy, Laura? So, what we wanted to do, Tom, was create a really defined kind of message. So, we’ve got three kind of vision trap lines, and they are active communities, healthier lives, and united by football. And what we mean by active communities is playing our part to bring communities together and and get them active. And that might be through physical activity, but it also might be for them becoming an active community in their space. So, you know, whether we educate them or support them in certain areas, we want to get the community to be active and take our activities to the community and not assume that everybody’s going to come to us. So, we want to be a little bit more structured in the way that we work. Um, healthier lives speaks for itself. We want to create and support healthier physical activity and mental well-being for everybody that we work with. and United by Football because we wouldn’t exist without the fabulous football club that we’re part of, but also really importantly, we know our badge stems from way beyond the pitch. You know, we know that our impact can come way beyond whatever happens on a on a weekend. So, we wanted to make sure we did that and we underpinned it. So, we’ve been quite strong with that kind of strap line. That’s that’s a lot of the messaging that people would have seen as as we launched and we think that everything that sits behind that will allow us to kind of really evolve. And then from that we set some kind of kind of key missions and objectives and we want to work across the city and and Staffordshire and that is ultimately to do a couple of big things. One thing big thing that we spoke about in the strategy was that we wanted to create a space for communities to come together and we committed to building a flagship facility in the heart of the city and that’s something that is a really exciting project for us. It’s something that’s going to be a huge focus for us um as we move forward and give us the opportunity to really create something really special, I think, where we can um do all of our activities, deliver from it’ll become our home. The kind of plan is that we would relocate there as a charity. So, we’ll still have a base at the Bet 365 stadium, but we would create a flagship facility in the city. And that’s definitely the thing that landed really well. It’s definitely the thing that was people were really excited about. And then underpinning all that, we want to make sure that we educate people on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and try and positively impact people’s physical and mental well-being. But so we we made some quite bold statements in the strategy. Um I think it’s our job now is to start to pull that together and show how we can impact that and measure that. So that’s the work that we’ve started to do since the end of September. With the Stoke City Foundation potentially bringing a really inspiring space to the heart of the city with Port Val’s campus, it feels like an incredibly exciting time for our football clubs and the role that you’re both playing uh in the city. Um I know that lots of VCSSE organizations that we work with have kind of a long history and almost heritage of working with some really inspiring um team members from from the community trust previously, but now Stoke City Foundation. Um, so what are your reflections on what the strategy might mean for foundation staff uh who are working in our communities? Is there anything that uh VCS organizations might see that is a little bit different or a little bit new? Yeah, I think there’s probably a few things. I mean, first and foremost, one of the things that we said a lot in that strategy release was that nothing is built without strong foundations and our staff are at the heart of that. you know, the workforce have been fantastic since I arrived nearly actually seven months today, I think. Um, so I think they they’ve really embraced what we want to do and I think what what people will start to see from us is a more collaborative approach to how we work and and I mean that internally as well. You know, we had lots of really good people doing lots of really good stuff across the whole organization, but it perhaps wasn’t aligned and and joined up enough to to benefit. So if you put the participant um at the heart of everything that we do now, I think they’ll be able to see more of a connected journey with us. So whether they’re at a in our primary school’s work and then what they can do on a weekend with us, whether they’re, you know, people that attend some of our activities aimed at the older generation, what how they can then do multiple things with us. So I think that that organizations will start to see that. And I guess my message to other organizations is that we have this long-term ambition to create hubs within the city in Staferture. And part of that I think is for us to take our activities to a space um and deliver a multitude of activities. So rather than us trying to be quite scattergun about where we work, we want to be a lot more strategic, go to a geographical location and have an impact in that community. And I see us being able to work with lots of organizations across the voluntary sector that can help us do that. So if there are organizations with community hubs or anything like that, then I’d be really keen to talk to them to see if we can bring some of our activities to them and work alongside them. certainly feels like there are some fantastic collaborations in the offing and and potential for more in that area. Um, happy seven-month anniversary. It feels like you’ve got a lot of momentum going and traveled a lot of distance in a relatively short space of time. So, maybe it’s also a really good time to ask what excites you the most personally about the new strategy. I think it’s been it’s been a really busy seven months. I think everybody’s really embraced the the changes that we needed to make and and wanted to make. And whilst that strategyy’s not been done with collaboration kind of outside of of the stadium, it’s definitely done been done with collaboration inside from the stadium. And I think what excites me is is the changes that we’ve made already as an organization. and you know we feel a lot more connected and ever since we’ve launched I’ve had so many initial conversations with partners across the the city and Staffordshire and I think people really now understand who we are. One of the things that a lot of people said to me in those first initial months was I think you do some really good stuff but I don’t really know what you do and it really resonated with me and that we need to be really defined. So that definition of active communities healthier lives united by football that’s who we are that’s what we want to do. So if we can, you know, add value to an organization, add value to an existing project, support a local need, make sure that we um are actually like adding some value and actual purpose to what we’re trying to do. I think that’s what excites me the most, the opportunity to to impact and and support some of the needs of the city and and put our stamp on it, but do that in collaboration. You know, we don’t need to we don’t need to be all things to all people. We need to we need to work together. And I I know that was the message that landed from the breakfast and I’m really keen to build on that. So yeah, really really excited. Fantastic. I know that our sector is really really keen to see how this collaboration continues to flower and how it how it continues to develop. Uh Laura Nichols, Stoke City Stoke City Foundation, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, Tom. A few podcasts ago, we also featured news of the government’s new civil society covenant, which is a foundation for resetting the relationship between government and civil society. Following a national consultation, the final version of the covenant was launched recently in London and Stoke on Trent’s very own Patrick Meyers was on scene to report back for us. Hi. Um, thank you. Some of you will know me from Thrive at Five. Um, others will know also that I’ve been secounded into work on the family matters program in Stoke on Trent City Council. Um and I wanted to share with you that I had the privilege to attend the launch of the civil society covenant at the science museum on the 17th of July. Thrive at five were invited to uh present and sit on a panel with Bridget Phillipsson the secretary of state for education. Um and um I took the opportunity equally to share some of the work that family matters is undertaking in uh Stoke on Trent looking about how do we greet families earlier in order that we don’t greet them too late when they’re they’re in crisis or stressed. Um the present were a very very large number of voluntary sector organizations. uh Kama was there as were about nine ministers as well sharing the government’s commitment to work with um the voluntary sector because they are seeing the voluntary sector as as part of the fabric of our nation. Um, and they do honestly, I believe, want to work in partnership to build a better, fairer future for all. And government should lean into the work in partnership with the civil society and actually begin to form a substantial collaboration between the two. And by government I mean government and all public bodies whether that’s the NHS whether it’s local authorities all of those organizations that need in my opinion and you might say I’m bound to say this need the expertise and the local knowledge that local voluntary sector organizations are able to do. Um the local authority um as you know in Stoke on Trents is focusing on a narrative that our children of the city of Stoke on Trent are not the children of the local authority. They are our children and it’s the power and quality of our partnerships that will make the difference to things like good levels of development, educational attainment attainment and good emotional health and well-being. And this comes about through the power of we working to a shared agenda. I was also able to share the partnership that Thrive at Five has with the local authority and the ICB because I think it acknowledges the unique trust and trust and relationships that the voluntary sector has with communities and the bridges these organizations can build with families and communities. As a result, um, family matters is the program that I’m leading, as you know, within Stoke on Trent City Council. It is about community-based early help to reduce demand for more intensive services. Fundamental to achieving this is the role of local trusted organizations. And I was able to share how local voluntary organizations which are close to our communities are a fundamental part of the solution to act early as described in the family first partnership program. This is to support family through universal and community-based care. This is very much the model that Thrive at Five is undertaking in the places where they are working connecting brokering local cooperation and it’s great to be be able to to say that um this is happening in other places in Stoke on Trent other than where Thrive at 5 is working. It was a great opportunity to showcase. I enjoyed my time there and I’m hoping very much that the uh that the covenant will become part and parcel of the way in which all public services interact with the voluntary and community sector. Well, the there is an incredibly um fertile um ground now for dialogue I think about what the voluntary sector can offer in order as I mentioned earlier to so solve some of the solution be part of the solutions of some of the issues that are facing both health and both local authority. Um the opportunity with the best best start in life uh strategy that’s come out with best start in life family hubs. Um equally the neighborhood approach to um uh health um must provide opportunities for local organizations to operate. But it’s great to see that there is a strong commitment nationally to making the uh promise and I do think the covenant is a promise that with recognizes the value of the voluntary um voluntary sector and equally how um long-term problem solving to the benefit of people in all parts of the country can occur through that dialogue between public bodies and the voluntary community sector. North Staff’s Combined Healthcare Trust have launched a new stakeholder spotlight newsletter which includes key stories and updates from across the trust highlighting the way that they deliver mental health, learning disabilities, substance misuse and primary care services across North Staffs and Stoke on Tren. I read it over lunch and it was really pleasing to see that they’ve been named the number one non-accute trust in England by the NHS and Department of Health. Great stuff. Well done to all our colleagues at the combined team. Sticking with health, uh Midland’s Partnership Foundation Trust or MPFT are seeking people of all ages with lived experience of mental health for a patient and carer race equality framework lived experience advisory group. Um, now I know that was a bit of a mouthful, but you just need to be a service user or carer from a racially or ethnically minoritized community and MPFT hope that the group will help them to better serve our communities. This month, there are some new opportunities to shape the work of our colleagues in local government and health. These are our chances as a sector to both feed in our own views and insights and to make sure that our communities and beneficiaries can also be heard as new initiatives take shape and as decisions are made. Stoke on Trent City Council is currently consulting on a couple of initiatives including a local cycling and walking infrastructure plan which details plans for five new cycle routes and five improved walking routes at locations across the city. There’s also consultation on the local plan which is intended to guide the future development of the city up to 2040. The vision is that Stoke on Trent will have further developed its role at the heart of the region and will be economically stronger, healthier, fairer, and inclusive for everyone, celebrating the city’s unique towns, heritage, and culture, and supporting sustainable development, mitigating the impacts of climate change. You can sign up to receive updates and register your views on the council website. There’s a link in the show notes. Staffordshire University have a joint initiative with Cordwell children which aims to better understand the views of parents of autistic children aged 7 to 12 about how healthy eating information is shared with them in mainstream schools. If you would like to take part in a focus group or interview to support this, please contact them directly. Details and contacts are in the show notes. Staferture and Stoke contrren ICB is reaching out to people who have short-term, long-term or end of life mobility needs and who require a real wheelchair for daily life. They’ve launched a survey to seek views and gather feedback between now and March 2026. So, if you know a child, young person, or adult with a view they’d like to contribute, then please follow the link in the show notes to make sure that their perspective counts. So many of us will have used the Haywood Hospital or walk-in center with family members or the people we support. But many people will be less aware of the Haywood Foundation, which is a local charity based at the hospital. They’re looking for views from patients, carers, family members, friends, and the wider community to help inform the work that they do in the area. And there’s a link to the survey in the show notes. Lastly, and although the best shaping and influencing activity often happens at the outset of a project, there are inevitably times when our sector has to be more reactive. Our colleagues at Healthwatch are asking the government to revisit some of the decisions made with the launch of its 10-year plan for the NHS, which as things stand, will sadly see the abolition of Healthwatch services. Now, Healthwatch is a local and independent service that speaks up for public interests. and Healthwatch are encouraging partners to vouch for the value of their services so that they continue supporting the health service to realize its ambitions. There’s a link in the show notes to more about that campaign. Now it’s time for our regular section about upcoming dates for your diary. Our friends at Skivies, that’s the Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services, is convening a community of practice around co-production. It aims to sustain awareness, understanding, and confidence around co-production. The first meeting is on the 16th of October from 12 to 1 with further details available from Phil at Skiibbies. We’ve included a link to the flyer with his address in the show notes. Vast still has lots of opportunities coming up in our own events diary before the end of 2025 too, including training sessions on funding strategy, Canva, communications and social media, health inequalities, difficult conversations, and even dealing with lone sharks. There are also lots of forums and networks where you can meet other VCSEs and share skills and knowledge. These include workshops for health champions looking at communicating messages about vaccines, our volunteer managers network, and the Circon Trent food partnership. All of those opportunities are listed on the vast events calendar, so get yourself booked on. Huge thanks for sticking with us during our dash through the months news. We’ve reached the point in the podcast where we give the floor to people who are working hard to make change real. As we’ve said at the start of the podcast, we’re really excited to bring you another sector perspective this month, highlighting what is unique and powerful about the work that takes place in the VCSSE sector. We were lucky to hear from Becky Banks who started out as a volunteer but is now Staffordshire’s service manager at assist. She shared her thoughts about the word advocacy. It’s a word that has many meanings but in Becky’s area of work it’s certainly something that has a special power. So hi Becky. Hi and thanks for joining us. So first of all would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a bit about assist and your role there? Okay. So, my name is Becky Banks. Um, I’ve worked for Assy for 20 years. Um, I was initially an advocate and now um I’ve moved up to team leader and now I’m the stafitcher service manager. Um, I came to advocacy um assist as a volunteer when my children were were little um and kind of moved up in the kind of way of going to part-time full-time. Um, assist is an organization that provides um, advocacy. Um, initially when I started, we did what was called generic advocacy. So, we would support people with lots of different things. Um, we supported people very much around anything that was going on with their lives. So, if they had a disability or a significant um, disability to be able to be participating in whatever was happening, we would be supporting them. So, that might have been back then um, around parental advocacy. So supporting them through the courts. Um it might have been something as simple as um a partner dying and supporting them through going to solicitor and things like that. We went to lots of meetings with doctors, lots of meetings with um solicitors. I everything we we supported with at that point. Lots of benefits support and things like that. We don’t do all that now. So what happened is that legislation changed. Um and when legislation changed, statutory advocacy became the the norm and eventually that was all sidelines as generic and we now do what’s called statutory. So that’s on uh advocacy under the care act. It’s advocacy under the um mental health act, mental capacity act and we support with NHS complaints. Um we have two branches. So we cover all of Stafitcher and we cover all of Stoke on Trent. Um Stoke on Trent also has parental advocacy and children’s advocacy. Um so that’s supporting children through sens through um uh looked after children um reviews things like that and supporting parents through the courts if they’re going through child protection or child in need um with with kind of statutory advocacy. What we now do is support um people through things like care act assessments and things like that. So care act assessments um are something anyone can ask for if they’ve got difficulties in being part of society I guess. So, if they need support for whatever reasons, maybe it’s because they’ve become elderly or um unwell, they might need a care act assessment. And if they’re not able to participate in that on their own um or find it difficult and difficulty doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t talk or anything like that, but it does mean that they might struggle to understand things. And our job is really to help explain that and help them to be fully a participant in anything or any decisions around their life. I learned a huge amount from listening to Becky. Um, and in future, we’d really love to welcome more of you as guest hosts and contributors to in case you missed it. That’s an invitation to members and partners to talk briefly about something you’re working on or developing or something that just makes communities tick much as Becky has just done. As always, we’d love, in case you missed it, to be a little bit less us and a little bit more you. So, please do get in touch if you would like to join us. So, as always, all good things must come to an end. How was the podcast for you? We’d love to hear just a little bit of feedback on how we can improve the show for you. And there’s a link to the feedback form in the show notes. But for now, it’s goodbye from me and goodbye from me.