Relational advocacy that respects capacity, dignity and autonomy across complex life transitions
Service Overview
Advocacy Bridge CIC is a not-for-profit, community-focused organisation providing consent-led, one-to-one advocacy for adults who find it difficult to navigate services and systems independently.
Advocacy Bridge supports adults who don’t need rescuing — but benefit from having steady, relational support alongside them as they work out what’s next and regain confidence navigating systems in their own way.
We support people who are overwhelmed, disengaging, or quietly slipping through gaps, and we work alongside existing services to help support land in a meaningful and sustainable way.
Our role is practical and relational:
to help people make sense of what’s happening, understand their options, and re-engage with services at a pace that supports safety, dignity, and autonomy.
We often support adults affected by trauma, late-identified neurodivergence, burnout, or periods of instability — particularly where traditional processes feel inaccessible or overwhelming.
As a Community Interest Company, all activity is for public benefit. Any surplus is reinvested into clearer pathways, practical tools, and accessible guidance that reduce drop-out and exclusion.
Why Our Approach Works
Many adults struggle to engage with services at the very point they need support most — not because help isn’t available, but because the way it’s offered isn’t accessible when someone is overwhelmed or under strain.
Systems are often complex, fast-paced, or reliant on real-time communication, which can be difficult to navigate during periods of distress, trauma, overload, or cognitive fatigue.
As a result, engagement breaks down — not due to lack of need or motivation or capability, but because the support available doesn’t match how people who are at capacity and overwhelmed are able to engage in the moment.
The result is often disengagement:
appointments are missed, forms remain unstarted or unfinished, deadlines pass, communication breaks down, and support stalls — not because people lack motivation, but because systems and processes are not designed flexible enough for people to even identify the next step to move forwards or progress anything independently under sustained strain.
Advocacy Bridge CIC exists to bridge this gap.
Our approach is built around relational continuity, regulation-first support, and simplified pathways that help people regain orientation and feel supported to prioritise next steps, to stay safely and steadily engaged through to achieving a more satisfactory outcome.
When someone is unable to progress independently, we step in to:
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clarify priorities and realistic next steps
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break information into manageable, accessible pieces
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offer calm, consistent guidance during periods of overload
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support communication, understanding, and self-advocacy
Our role is clear and contained:
to bridge the gap between service users and the systems and organisations meant to support them, without replacing statutory services or taking over responsibilities that sit elsewhere — reducing disengagement and enabling safer, more sustainable progress.
Our Approach
At Advocacy Bridge CIC, support is active, relational, and consent-led. No one is expected to navigate complex or confusing systems alone.
When health changes, circumstances shift, or stability wobbles, even everyday tasks can become difficult. We work alongside each person to:
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join the dots between services and information
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reduce confusion and conflicting guidance
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understand options in clear, plain language
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navigate forms, appointments, and decisions at a manageable pace
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access resources that support their next steps
Our support is calm, clear, and non-judgemental. We remain alongside people long enough for the path ahead to feel steadier and for confidence to return — without pressure or dependency.
Our aim is simple: to prevent people from slipping through gaps and to support safer, more sustainable engagement with the systems around them.
🌿 How Support Works
Advocacy Bridge offers structured advocacy and navigation support to help people move forward with clarity, confidence, and appropriate support.
Support is provided within agreed scope, capacity, and working hours. This helps ensure support remains steady and sustainable for everyone.
Support hours
Weekdays, 10am–4pm
Messages are responded to within capacity.
What Advocacy Bridge does not provide
Advocacy Bridge is not a crisis or emergency service and does not provide legal or clinical advice.
If you or the person you are supporting is in immediate distress or requires urgent help, please contact your GP, NHS 111, your local crisis team, or appropriate statutory services.
Need to Self-Refer?
You don’t need a professional referral — you can contact us directly.
You’re welcome to self-refer using the button below. The form is designed to be simple and low-pressure — you only need to share what feels comfortable. From there, we’ll explore support options together at a pace that feels manageable.
Bridging The Gap.
Who We Support
Referrers typically contact us when an adult:
• Is avoiding or disengaging from calls, emails, or appointments
• Feels too overwhelmed to complete forms, applications, or required processes
• Withdraws, shuts down, or masks distress during service interactions
• Struggles to articulate needs, priorities, or questions in appointments
• Is neurodivergent and experiencing executive functioning, decision-making, or processing difficulties
• Moves between services without clear progress or continuity
• Is distressed or at risk of disengagement but does not meet crisis thresholds
• Would benefit from calm, consistent relational support to remain engaged
We support adults who need additional help accessing and navigating services, particularly following trauma, late-identified neurodivergence, burnout, or periods of instability.
We often work in the space between statutory advocacy, therapy or coaching, and real-life administrative overwhelm — where practical support and relational continuity are needed.
Many people we support find it difficult to organise thoughts, communicate clearly under pressure, or follow through with complex tasks and decisions.
Referrals are commonly made when systems feel too complex to navigate alone and steady support would reduce the risk of disengagement.
What Referrers Can Expect
Collaborative working
We work alongside referrers and existing services, respecting roles and avoiding duplication.
Person-centred, consent-led advocacy
We support individuals until they feel able to understand options, communicate needs, and advocate for themselves.
Steady, regulating support
We provide calm, consistent support that stabilises engagement during overwhelm or transition.
Time-limited, purpose-led involvement
Our involvement remains focused and steps back once the person feels confident to continue.
Barrier-aware, non-judgemental approach
We identify and reduce practical, emotional, and communication barriers without blame or pressure.
Feedback into systems (with consent)
Where appropriate and agreed, we share insights that support more inclusive and workable pathways.
Our role is to support progress without pressure — creating conditions where people can engage safely, steadily, and sustainably.
How We Complement Existing Services
We work alongside existing services, helping people engage, follow through, and feel supported throughout their journey.
Our involvement can help reduce:
• Missed appointments
• Crisis escalation
• Repeat or stalled referrals
We are not a crisis service.
Instead, we provide the relational continuity and steady support that many systems don’t have capacity to offer.
We support individuals who may feel too overwhelmed, unwell, or unsure to take the first steps alone — staying alongside them until there is greater clarity, regulation, and confidence to move forward more independently.
This is already clear and well-structured — it just needs light polishing so it:
✅ Sounds professional and calm
✅ Is easy to scan
✅ Feels safe and reassuring
✅ Keeps boundaries clear
✅ Avoids sounding transactional
Here’s a refined, copy-paste ready version:
How to Refer Someone
1. Check consent
Please confirm the individual is happy to be referred and understands this is direct, one-to-one advocacy support.
2. Submit a referral or email basic details
With the person’s consent, please share:
• Name
• Preferred contact details
• Brief context (only what they have agreed to share)
3. Direct engagement
Once a referral is received, Advocacy Bridge works directly with the individual.
We aim to make contact within 24–48 hours.
We are not a case-holding service and do not routinely report back unless the person has explicitly requested this.
4. Consent-led information sharing
No information is shared with other services without the individual’s clear, informed consent.
Advocacy Bridge provides steady, person-centred support that helps people understand options, regain a sense of agency, and move forward at a pace that feels safe and manageable.
🧭 How Advocacy Bridge Came to Exist
Advocacy Bridge CIC was created from lived experience, not theory.
Across communities, many people find themselves lost in a maze of services, forms, assessments, and waiting lists. Even when support exists, it can be hard to access, sustain, or navigate — particularly where services are stretched, pathways are unclear, or a person’s real capacity and needs aren’t easily recognised or communicated.
Support that should help can feel confusing or inconsistent, especially for those who have managed independently for years, until a change in health, capacity, or life circumstances makes things harder to navigate alone.
Through lived experience and community conversations — including those of our founder, Michelle Shaw — clear patterns began to emerge:
People unsure where to begin.
Unsure where to turn or who to trust.
Unsure of the systems, language, or unwritten rules.
Finding it hard to explain what they needed.
Unsure how to make themselves heard.
As these experiences were shared more openly, many people spoke about feeling stuck, overloaded, and overwhelmed by the different strands of their lives.
When support sat in separate “lanes,” some people found their situations were too complex for any one service to hold. Often shaped by survival and life circumstances, their needs didn’t fit neatly into one pathway — particularly where support was time-bound or session-limited.
When services ended or paused, continuity was often lost. Many people had to retell their story to each new professional, even when the questions were similar. For those with invisible disabilities, fluctuating capacity, or layered circumstances, their reality wasn’t always fully understood.
Many were capable in some areas while struggling significantly in others. When support didn’t meet them where they were, people could feel misunderstood or overlooked.
Over time, this left many feeling depleted, discouraged, and unsure where to turn next.
Advocacy Bridge CIC grew from recognising this gap.
It formalises an approach developed through lived experience and real-world support: now delivered in a structured, ethical, and sustainable way that benefits both the person seeking help and the professionals involved in their care.
We help people prioritise their physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing, slow things down, untangle complex situations, recognise barriers, build healthy boundaries, communicate clearly, and take steady steps forward when life feels stuck or overwhelming.
So people can regain clarity, confidence, and direction — with support that respects who they are, what they’re carrying, and space to move forward in ways that work for them.
“Michelle brings clarity, compassion, and gentle accountability — both for the people she supports and the professionals working around them.
She asks thoughtful questions and keeps the person at the centre of conversations and decisions
“Our staff learned a great deal simply by observing how she works.
She holds space calmly, builds trust quickly, and helps conversations stay constructive and focused on what matters.”
“Michelle acts as a bridge between intention and delivery.
Where services can sometimes miss the mark, she helps ensure no one gets left behind.
“Michelle has a way of meeting people where they are without judgement.
She helps individuals feel safe enough to engage again, which makes a real difference to how they show up in our services.”
“Advocacy Bridge fills a gap we often see but don’t always have capacity to address.
Her support helps people stay engaged rather than dropping out when things feel overwhelming.”
“Michelle brings a steady, grounding presence.
People relax when she’s involved because they know they won’t be pushed or judged.”
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Get in Touch. Get Involved.
The Advocacy Bridge CIC is built on connection and collaboration. If you’d like to refer someone, partner with us, volunteer, or support our mission, we’d love to hear from you.
Matrix@Dinnington Business Centre, Nobel Way, Dinnington, Sheffield S25 3QB
📞 01709 262005
Contact me: hello@michelleshaw.co.uk 01709 262005
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