SAM is a user-led independent advocacy service for people with care and support needs in Swindon and has played a key part in providing support for over 30 years. SAM's work informs a local society where everybody is welcome and equal. Working alongside people with Autism, mental health issues, learning disabilities and dementia, SAM challenges inequality and social injustice. Empowering people to stand up for their rights, SAM makes a real difference to the people they work for in Swindon.

SAM enables hundreds of people each year have a voice who would otherwise not be heard. As a user-led charity, we always have the needs of our members close to our hearts and central to all our activities.

Between April 2025 - March 2026 SAM provided free, independent support and advocacy to over 900 local people with a range of care and support needs.

Our Boost project has seen members achieving certificates in food preparation and maths, and provides support with money management, computers, cooking, public transport and shopping.

Our outreach work includes relaunching the Learning Disability Partnership Board, giving experts-by-experience a voice on the issues that matter with the council and other stakeholders.

During Covid we continued helping clients access support from the local authority and volunteer services. Our advocates and community project team ensured no one was left behind; we were there for emotional support and helping access healthcare. We provided bespoke activity packs to our community project users along with phone or video calls to go through the contents. It was crucial to us that our clients didn’t feel alone during lockdown.

Thank you for reading about our work and supporting our charity.