We are a charity whose purpose is to improve the lives of people in need of advice.
We pursue this purpose in two ways:
By supporting the work of independent advice services – we aim to help them do what they do better, more easily, more affordably and more effectively; and
By trying to reduce the need for advice – we aim to positively influence public and corporate policies that could or do
adversely affect people’s lives
Like most charities, our constant challenge is financial – raising sufficient funds to continue doing what we aim to do to the level that we feel is required. It’s a challenge that has become increasingly difficult in recent years as some sources of income for organisations such as ours have diminished or disappeared altogether.
Our strategy for more effectively pursuing our purpose is to increase our income mainly by building a sustainable business group, the activities of which will complement and provide funds for the core charity’s work. Our strategy for being financially viable in pursuit of our purpose is to build a sustainable business group, the activities of which will complement and provide funds for the core charity’s work.
Consistent with this strategy our guiding policies will be to:
invest in developing new and existing activities, products and services that can deliver value to advice services and provide sustained income for the charity
maintain an entrepreneurial culture focused on continual improvement, adding value, optimal performance and achieving impact
In furtherance of these policies we will act to:
seek and pursue new opportunities and income while managing risks
further extend access to membership and create new schemes of association
optimise performance in every existing area of activity to maximise resources available for re-investment
improve our knowledge of and contacts with the wider advice sector and peripheral markets
improve channels of communication and engagement with all contact
Together, AdviceUK members are a vibrant and diverse community of advice services. They are at the heart of everything we do as a team of staff and trustees at AdviceUK. This is because we know how important it is for our members to exist, whether part of a student union, housing association or large charity – or a small, independent, service providing general advice to their local community or specialist advice.
AdviceUK have been working with the Scottish Government to distribute almost £1 million of funding to partnerships between advice agencies and other local services in Scotland, such as schools, charities, hospitals and mental health services, as part of the government’s new Accessible Advice Fund.
We are really proud to publish our latest annual impact report, describing the work of our Influencing and Engagement team in 2022-23 and shows how our work has helped to improve our members’ ability to support the people who use their services.
AdviceUK is delighted to announce that it has successfully secured three years of funding from London Legal Support Trust to work with London’s minority ethnic and migrant communities, AdviceUK members, and those resourcing them. Together we will co-design Workforce Pathways that understand and improve the experiences of people as they start working or volunteering in the advice sector and progressing their careers.
