The
Advice Network & Training
Partnership (Bradford District)
Registered Charity No. 1105947
What
is the ANTP?
Why join the ANTP?
Want to join the ANTP?
What are the formal aims of the ANTP?
What is the Achieving Quality Advice Project?
Support the campaign to end legal loan sharking!
Annual Report 2011
What
is the Advice Network & Training Partnership (Bradford & District)?
The ANTP (B&D) is a network of independent advice centres across the
Bradford Metropolitan District. Members of the ANTP give information and
advice about social welfare law and rights. ANTP is also the Infrastructure
Support Organisation for quality assured advice centres in Bradford District.
ANTP advisers help people with problems to do with Debt, Benefits, Tax Credits, Disability Allowances, Housing, Homelessness, Employment Rights, Fuel, Utilities, Immigration, Nationality, Consumer, Community Care and related problems.
There are over 20 members of the ANTP at present. There are ‘full’ members, who have the Community Legal Service Quality Mark; and ‘associate’ members, who also help with advice problems but do not have the CLS Quality Mark.
ANTP membership is free to non-profit organisations in the Bradford District involved in advice issues and offers real benefits for members – please see below. There are also ‘supporting’ members which are either not ‘advice-giving’ or not ‘non-profit’ organisations but which are based in Bradford District support the work of the ANTP.
The ANTP is a registered charity and has an elected Trustee Board, which meets monthly and is made up of representatives from a wide range of local independent advice centres.
Click here to view the ANTP’s structure and current membership.
Why
join the ANTP?
Members of the ANTP provide mutual support for each other and get support
from the Achieving Quality Advice Project:
• Training: ‘full’ and ‘associate’ members get priority for free and low cost training courses for ‘front line’ advisers and others who help clients with advice-related problems (higher rates are charged to non-members)
• Networking: members get regular e-mailings that share useful local information and opportunities to join in activities to influence the strategic direction of the local advice sector
• Publicity: members get reliable, updated information about where people can get advice and where to refer for specialist advice
• Campaigns: members work together to bring about changes to local and national social policy issues
• Liaison: members can attend meetings with statutory organisations such as DWP, Jobcentre Plus, Housing Benefit, to discuss common problems affecting our clients
• Quality Standards: members get help to ensure their organisation’s procedures follow best practices and are ready to meet the new national Quality of Advice standards, due to be introduced in 2012
More information and useful documents are stored in the ANTP Member's Area of this website. You need a user name and password to access this area of the site.
Want
to join the ANTP?
If your organisation is non-profit, based in the Bradford District and
helps people with advice-related issues (benefits, debt, housing, etc),
you can join the ANTP for free and take advantage of these membership
benefits. There are three types of membership: ‘full’, ‘associate’
and ‘supporting’ - details on the ANTP membership rules and
application form.
Click here
to view the Membership Rules.
Click here
to view the Membership Application Form.
Please note that membership of the ANTP is only open to organisations, not individuals. If you are interested in working for an advice centre, please click here for contact details for all ANTP advice centres.
What
are the formal aims of the ANTP (B&D)?
The ANTP (B&D) aims to advance the education of members of independent
advice centres, the legal, social work and community work professions,
public authorities and interested members of the public generally by:
1. Increasing knowledge of social welfare law and policies as they affect people suffering financial hardship or discrimination within the Bradford District.
2. Developing the quantity, quality and efficiency of independent legal advice services for people experiencing financial hardship or discrimination within the Bradford District
What
is the Achieving Quality Advice Project?
Achieving Quality Advice is the ANTP’s current project, which has
been funded by the Big Lottery Fund for 3 years. It began in January 2010
and aims to:
• provide ‘in-service’ training for experienced advisers to help them keep up to date with changes in the law and to develop their skills
• support advice centres to develop the quality of advice given to the public by using peer review
• liaise
with local statutory organizations (such as the Council and Jobcentre
Plus) to improve communication with advice centres and to carry out social
policy campaigns to bring about lasting change
Who works for the Achieving Quality Advice Project?
• Programme Manager: Nick Hodgkinson
• Training Worker: Javed Ashraf
• Peer Review Worker: Ghazala Anjam-Ali
• Partnership Support Worker: Aysha Chetwood
• Admin & Finance Worker: Pauline Leach
Support the Campaign to end legal loan sharking!
The UK now has one of the highest levels of personal debt in the world - in April this year the British people owed over £1,460 bn in private debt. Irresponsible lending can cause debts to become unmanageable: some loan and credit companies are charging annual interest rates equivalent to over 2500% (despite the Bank of England base rate being just 0.5%). Borrowing at these rates repeatedly tips customers into inescapable cycles of debt and poverty. Click here to support the campaign to put a legal limit on the amount of interest that can be charged.
Click here to see a copy of the latest Trustees Annual Report
and Websites
The ANTP is supported by
the Big Lottery Fund
