Since 2001 the Foundation has advocated on behalf of GB victims and survivors, raising awareness of their needs and engaging decision makers in learning the lessons from the past. The Foundation will continue this work, particularly with the Critical Incident Response Advisory Group (CIRAG) which it created in 2005. The Advocacy Group (Steps Towards Empowerment & Positive Survival) is made up of victims and survivors who, supported by Foundation expertise, are advocating on their own behalf. The Foundation is developing an advocacy training programme with areas such as media handling, raising issues to Government, and presentation skills. This will equip survivors with the skills and resources to advocate for themselves and others.

Further advocacy is strengthened by the provision of an online community for victims and survivors to communicate, which has a forum for sharing experiences and learning from each other, as well as information and advice.

The learning will be fed into the victims' policy and practice arena and the Foundation will extend its networking and raising awareness of the needs of victims. The Foundation also continues to network with agencies across Europe and beyond to take the learning to an international audience. Similarly the Foundation will maintain its signposting activity, ensuring that those new people who come forward can be given the right information to get the support they need. The learning from this work will continue to be fed into the victims' policy and practice arena and the Foundation will extend the networking and raising awareness of the needs of people affected by conflict.

If you are interested in learning more about advocacy or joining STEPS please contact the Foundation on 01925 581 231 or email info@foundation4peace.org.