The Advocacy Academy

The Advocacy Academy is a charitable organization based in London, United Kingdom. The Advocacy Academy's stated mission is to "train young people to engage in collective action to improve their communities and tackle social issues that directly affect them."[1] Helen Hayes, the Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood, is the organization's patron.[2]

The Advocacy Academy
FoundedFebruary 2014 (2014-02)
United Kingdom
FounderAmelia Viney
TypeNonprofit
Non-governmental organization
HeadquartersBrixton, London,
United Kingdom
Location
  • London
ServicesScholarship programme for young people to become advocates for social issues
FieldsTraining in advocacy
Websitewww.theadvocacyacademy.com

History

The Advocacy Academy was founded by activist Amelia Viney in Brixton on 20 February 2014.[3] Viney had previously worked as a civil rights lobbyist in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. and as a researcher in Westminster, during which time she felt that young people were not represented or listened to enough by politicians.[4] This inspired Viney to found The Advocacy Academy, inspired by the U.S. civil rights movement Freedom Schools.[4][5]

Activities

Fellowship

Young people in South London are able to apply for The Advocacy Academy's eight-month-long Fellowship,[6] which adds up to over 350 hours and consists of three residential retreats and weekly gatherings featuring visiting politicians, experts and activists.[7] In addition they are expected to develop and launch their own campaigns, and give a speech at the UK parliament. The Changemakers are mentors to the young people who are taking part in the Fellowship. They undergo their own training programme to prepare for this role.[4]

Community Land Trust

A group of graduates of The Advocacy Academy started developing a campaign in 2015 to address the shortage of affordable housing in their local area.[8] They worked with Citizens UK and local councillors, making the case for a Community Land Trust, and in 2018 successfully bid for a plot of land in Lambeth to build affordable housing.[9][10][11]

Legally Black

The Legally Black campaign was conceived by Kofi Asante, Bel Matos da Costa, Liv Francis-Cornibert and Shiden Tekle in response to the lack of positive representation of black people in the media in the UK.[12] They re-created famous film posters, replacing the lead actors with black actors. The posters were put up across the London transport network by another activist group, leading to press coverage and discussion of Legally Black's campaign.[13][14][15]

References
  1. "Charity Details". beta.charitycommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  2. "Advocacy Academy comes to Parliament". Helen Hayes MP. September 11, 2017. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  3. "The Advocacy Academy – How a new scheme is training young activists". The Big Issue. 2017-07-04. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  4. "Inside Advocacy Academy: the radical programme turning angry young…". The Face. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  5. "122. School of Rocking the Boat: training the activists of tomorrow". acast. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  6. "The Big Issue's Top 100 Changemakers 2019: Campaigns and Campaigners". The Big Issue. 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  7. "Creating the UK's first campus for young activists". Paul Hamlyn Foundation. 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  8. "The story of a youth-led community land trust housing campaign". Inside Housing. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  9. "Our win highlights as young people we are doing our bit to fight for our communities". www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  10. Christou, Constantino. "There's a glimmer of hope for Londoners who no longer believe that affordable housing exists in their city". Co-operative Party. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  11. "Press Release: London Community Land Trust to deliver affordable homes on TfL sites as part of Mayor's drive to boost community-led homebuilders". www.nweurope.eu. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  12. Neate, Rupert (2018-03-03). "Young Brixton activists recreate film posters with black leads". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  13. "Film posters recreated with black leads". BBC News. 2018-03-04. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  14. Burgoyne, Patrick (2018-03-01). "Legally Black posters replace movie stars with black actors". Creative Review. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  15. Gil, Natalie. "These Film Posters Highlight A Serious Problem With The Media". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
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