Today, we welcome cohort 20 to the Reach Advocacy Practice Award. The team can't wait to meet all our new candidates in our introductory module today and support you through the award!

Our Reach Advocacy Practice Award not only supports those providing advocacy. It can provide valuable career paths to those seeking a career that offers meaningful support to vulnerable communities. We are honoured to welcome so many from such different backgrounds to the award.

At Reach Advocacy, we collaborate with local universities to promote our work and facilitate placements for students to gain a deeper understanding of human rights in Scotland. This enables the next generation of advocates to integrate human rights into all they do.

Our work is inspired by lived experience that has shaped a commitment to ensuring the most vulnerable have the support they need. That is why we wanted to share this incredible feedback about how our Award has supported graduates in improving outcomes for those who need it.

Through our full and half-day workshops, we strive to give advocates the tools to utilise a human rights-based approach in their work. At REACH, we are committed to ensuring that our workshops reach as many people as possible, so that everyone can access the support they need.

The team at Reach was delighted yesterday to receive a visit from @mareetodd.bsky.social to discuss the importance of our accredited human-rights based training! Huge thank you to @richardleonardmsp.bsky.social and Fulton MacGregor for helping put this meeting together and for their ongoing support

Exciting times are coming! We have a lot to share with you all, and we plan to do so at the Reach Advocacy Conference in Early 2026! Stay up-to-date with us on our social media for more information coming soon. We can't wait to see you there!

Did you know that you can donate to Reach Advocacy via our website? We are committed to continuing our life-saving work, and to do that, we need help and support from all those who back our work. You can donate via our website at www.reachadvocacy.net/donations Thank you for all you do for us!

At Reach, we are honoured to welcome so many from such different backgrounds to our award. The commitment we see from our graduates towards supporting us never ceases to inspire us to continue to do what we do. It is clear that Reach has a true impact on the communities we serve.

After taking some time to reflect on the latest statistics around drug-related deaths in Scotland, we wanted to share our thoughts on the horrific deaths we see daily. We need real change to support vulnerable communities in Scotland now. Human Rights are vital to saving lives.

Any job is easier when you have the right tools. Reach Advocacy training equips advocates with the tools to adopt a human rights-based approach. We facilitate real and meaningful discussions, allowing advocates to come together to create a better Scotland.

Yesterday, we were shown a 3% increase in unnecessary deaths in the first months of this year compared to last year. As a lived experience organisation, it is promising to see Reach being mentioned in parliament by @elenawhitham.bsky.social as playing a role in tackling this issue.

At Reach Advocacy, we are determined that all advocates, even self-advocates, have the tools they need to achieve the best outcomes. That's why we are honoured that our award appeals not only to the third sector, but also to those with lived/living experience of service use.

Reflecting on yesterday's Drug Related Death statistics, it is clear that there is much more to be done in Scotland. Last week, Jed spoke at the #StopTheDeaths conference about the important work Reach does to support communities across Scotland through our innovative human rights approach.

Hearing about the Scottish context and the importance of intersectionality when talking about advocacy and harm reduction to #StopTheDeaths @scottishdrugsforum.bsky.social

At Reach, we hope to equip advocates with the tools to understand and support their clients. Doing this, we go beyond just human rights law and seek to provide knowledge, guidance, and principles that can shape their work across Scotland.

Great panel discussion with Jed, Niamh Eastwood from Release, and individuals with lived experience of accessing advocacy. Raised the importance of increasing the availability of advocacy services and the quality of training to create accountability #StopTheDeaths

Jed speaking on the importance of using current human rights legislation to support people’s rights through informed advocacy. The role of standards, guidelines, and policies to ensure accountability is essential. #StopTheDeaths

Sharing our progress since 2023, delivering workshops and accredited training across Scotland

Jed will be speaking shortly during Session 3: Strengthening Advocacy for Change. His presentation will cover Advancing Advocacy in Scotland, and the vital role of training and education for those performing advocacy across services, communities, and families.

We are attending Scottish Drugs Forum’s annual conference today in Glasgow. Our co-founder Jed Brady will be speaking later on in today’s session, on the role of advocacy. Looking forward to interesting discussions, and presentations. #StopTheDeaths @scottishdrugsforum.bsky.social

Ahead of a busy month of workshops, we want to share a bit more about what Reach does. We provide Scotland's only SQA-accredited advocacy training award, with a focus on human rights. Our workshops equip participants with the skills and knowledge to promote and use human rights!

Reach Advocacy workshops provide participants with a human rights toolkit. It allows them to look at standards, guidelines, and policy, all of which can be enhanced through the legislation that shapes human rights. It has been incredible to see such strong feedback about this!

Did you know that Reach Advocacy has been recognised across Scotland for our innovative approach that embeds human rights in advocacy through our training and awards? It is great to see such kind words about our work, and we can't wait to see it continue!

Today, we are sharing the words of one of our RAPA graduates who kindly shared how the award has helped them to become a better advocate and supported them moving forward in their career. This is what we strive for to improve outcomes across Scotland!

Reach Advocacy takes an innovative approach through our human rights-based advocacy training applicable to advocacy types across Scotland. We are privileged to be able to meet so many key legislative needs across Scotland and hope to support the needs of vulnerable communities.

It was wonderful for Reach Advocacy to receive this feedback from Charlie Coggrave at Lomond and Argyll Advocacy Service, sharing the benefits Reach training has had for them This is what we aim for: embedding rights-based advocacy across Scotland to improve outcomes for vulnerable communities!

At Reach Advocacy, one of our key focuses is improving outcomes. Through our workshops and award, we can have a real impact on vulnerable communities by providing advocates with the tools to offer human rights advocacy. This is some of the feedback we have received from workshops.

For our Testimonial Tuesday today, we are delighted to share that our local and national media have recognised us! It has been wonderful to see the growing support by reach advocacy and to read the words of Fulton MacGregor who has been a great support for Reach Advocacy!

Here at Reach Advocacy, we have been able to build great relationships across academia! We have worked with students @lawstrath.bsky.social and @strathhasspgrs.bsky.social from @unistrathclyde.bsky.social as well as @uofgsps.bsky.social and @uofgsocsci.bsky.social from @uofglasgow.bsky.social

Today we are sharing the kind words of Dr Prun Bijral from @changegrowlive.bsky.social This sums up the impact that Reach training had on their work, and highlights the meaningful impact Reach Advocacy has on those across all the partnerships we work with.

Reach Advocacy travels between local authorities across Scotland to provide our valuable workshops on human rights and advocacy. We provide these workshops on a variety of topics to meet the needs of the organisation receiving training. This is a quick snippet of each of our workshops!

For today's Testimonial Tuesday, we have some feedback we received from a participant in our UNCRC workshop. We are privileged to have so many incredible people going through Reach training and workshops each year, building a stronger advocacy service across Scotland!

We are honoured to see a motion introduced by @fultonsnp in @ScotParl recognising the important work that Reach Advocacy does to support vulnerable communities across Scotland through human rights-based advocacy training! www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-...

With the growing support and interest around the work of Reach Advocacy, we are excited to share some key statistics about our work! This map provides an overview of the work Reach undertook from June 2023 to June 2025 and just shows the potential for the future!

Reach Advocacy is Scotland’s only accredited advocacy training organisation using a human rights based approach. Learn more about who we are and what we do from our staff!

Today's Tuesday Testimonial comes from Kevin Owens from Independent Living Fund Scotland. Kevin speaks about the important role Reach Advocacy plays in providing the tools and framework needed to support and improve the rights of vulnerable groups in Scotland.

It was great to give a workshop on MAT Standards and Human Rights to staff @simoncommscot.bsky.social in Edinburgh yesterday. There was excellent engagement from the group, and exciting to see how many people were keen to hear more about the Reach RAPA award!

It was great to see so many supportive faces in Parliament last week! An incredible support for our service, some valuable words of support from all. We hope to hear from MSPs following this event. We are always happy to discuss our work, and we welcome support from both politicians and the public!

Following our day in @parliament.scot, we are sharing some works from the chair of our board, Dr Iain McPhee. Iain is passionate about human rights based advocacy and we couldn't be more honoured to have his support behind us.

Our CEO Derek McCabe explaining the critical work and mission of Reach advocacy.

We have just arrived in room T.G.20/21 @parliament.scot . Excited to make our case and explain the importance of the work we do.

We are excited to be presenting our case for human rights based advocacy to @parliament.scot in line with both the new public health framework and the principles of national renewal informed by the Christie Commission. Hope to see many faces there!

We are looking forward to inducting 18 candidates onto our @scqfpartnership.bsky.social Level 7 Reach Advocacy Practice Award today. The award is a great tool for advocates across Scotland, and we can't wait to work with you all! @simoncommscot.bsky.social @quarriers.bsky.social

On the day before we visit @parliament.scot we are sharing the words of Alan Miller from @lawstrath.bsky.social about his collaboration with Reach Advocacy. We have been privileged to work with Alan over the years and look forward to continuing our strong relationship in the future!

We have been privileged to work with various groups across health and social care, including Clackmannanshire & Stirling HSCP Simon Jones shared with us the impact that Reach training has had on both staff and service users. This is a great display of the community impact of human rights education!

Happy Monday! Today marks the start of the week we will be attending @parliament.scot to share Reach Advocacy's work with lawmakers Today we are delighted to share the testimony of Mary Sneddon from Dundee Independent Advocacy Service about the work of the team and the impact it has on communities

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland @alliancescot.bsky.social has been an early and important proponent of rights education and development. Dr Irene Oldfather's kind words regarding Reach’s accredited advocacy training are greatly appreciated.

Reach has been privileged to build strong relationships with academic institutions. Dr Elaine Webster from @lawstrath.bsky.social @unistrathclyde.bsky.social is a pioneer of human rights research across Scotland and beyond. Here is what she has to say about Reach’s work in this area!

Today's testimonial comes from Jason Wallace, a Living Experience Engagement Senior Officer @scottishdrugsforum.bsky.social. We had the chance to hear from SDF staff at last weeks @drnscot.bsky.social Annual Conference, so what better time to share these kind words about our key relationship!