If you think you might be interested in joining us as a volunteer advocate or in some other voluntary role please contact us for an informal talk.

We are a very committed and happy team.

We welcome people of all ages and from all backgrounds.

All training given is practical and designed to ensure our advocates have all the skills they need to work effectively for our "partners"

Well we asked Ann Carrier one of our most experienced volunteer advocates to say.

"When asked by someone what an advocate is or what one does I find it difficult to answer and usually end up describing the principles that guide how I interact with my advocacy partners.

These are:

I feel the key to advocacy is the relationship between the advocate and partner. You cannot stand up for someone if you don’t really know them or share a great deal of trust.

It is such a privilege to be in such a positive role. It can be frustrating too. In conclusion if we as advocates can enjoy the company of our advocacy partners and begin to see life through their eyes we will care enough to stand with them and if necessary fight their corner."

And while its by no means compulsory, one of our Advocates Jon Davey showed the many qualities of our Advocates when he recently competed in his first ever half marathon and a tough one at that. Jon was running the Eyam event to raise money for the Grapevine Cafe and thanks to very generous family and friends he raised over £200.

Well done Jon and Good Luck in any future events.

It's rumoured that you might even have inspired Peter Dawson to run in a future event !!!!!