Swindon Advocacy Movement, affectionately known by its members as SAM;  ‘a clear and consistent voice for the rights of people with care and support needs’.

Inform | Empower | Challenge | Campaign

“Advocacy is taking action to help people say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interests and obtain services they need. Advocates and advocacy schemes work in partnership with the people they support and take their side. Advocacy promotes social inclusion, equality and social justice.” – The Advocacy Charter – Action for Advocacy (2002)

We provide a free, independent and accessible advocacy service in Swindon. Our service is available to people with a learning disability and high functioning Autism and Asperger’s. We also provide Swindon’s IMCA, IMHA and Care Act 2014 advocacy.

The Buddies project is a social inclusion project for people with learning disabilities in Swindon. It is a five year project, funded by The BIG Lottery, which will come to an end in March 2017.

The aims of the Buddies project are;

• To empower people with learning disabilities to live independently and provide ways for members to be active in the community.
• Through spending time on the project people with learning disabilities will have increased their confidence and improved their well-being.
• People with learning disabilities will be able to learn new skills through taking part in mainstream activities.