What is A.C.E.?

Funded By lottery image

Angus Community Enterprise (A.C.E.) is Augment's base and offices in Arbroath. Augment is a user led initiative which caters for the whole of Angus. ACE is funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

Augment moved into new premises in February 2007 which allowed the organisation to further its current activities and also expand to include a "Clubhouse/ Community Resource" based on the International Clubhouse Model. "The Clubhouse model provides vocational, educational and social opportunities to people who have experienced severe or enduring mental health problems. Clubhouses are service user-led initiatives and service users are supported to be involved in all aspects of its activities from general running of the clubhouse to governance of the clubhouse. All decision making processes include the involvement of service users".

This is an employability and resettlement initiative and membership includes people with experience of a wide ranging issues including; mental health, substance misuse, homelessness and long-term unemployment.

A.C.E is split up into the following areas: business, employment & education, catering and maintenance, membership, finance and governance and social firms.

As with Augments other work, A.C.E serves the whole of the Angus area and is open to the public as a community resource. This is an opportunity for the wider community to use the building and be involved in any classes/ groups that run on the premises. The social firms (Café, craft shop) are also be open to the public. Involving the community in this way not only assists in community building but also creates further opportunities for people to be socially included.

The building encompasses a variety of different projects, activities & groups, working in partnership with statutory services, voluntary organisations and external agencies including Angus College, Angus Council Training Services, Housing and Support, Child and Family Services, Criminal Justice, Primary Care & Mental Health Services and local Community Groups.

What can ACE offer you?
The ACE Project can offer you a number of opportunities and projects to get involved with :

Develop new skills and abilities
Develop and gain employment skills
Further education and training including
Recovery and resettlement skills
SVQ’s in Administration and Catering
Support to move into further education, volunteering and employment opportunities
Opportunities for increasing social networks in a friendly environment
Become more involved with your community
Young Person Project

Examples of activities available…

Reception and Admin duties
Cleaning
Gardening
Maintenance
Running the kitchen, community café & craft shop
Finance and fundraising
Organising and running social activities
Information Project duties including MAD News and Augment’s Website

Who is the ACE Project for?

We have an open door policy and is for anyone who lives in Angus.If you feel like you need further training and support to get a job, want to gain new skills or build on existing one’s, attend social groups or family nights or simply want to come in for a coffee and cake at the community café, the choice is yours…You can also come along and use our facilities and groups. i.e. the community café, community groups including smoking cessation classes, and other exciting taster sessions and initiatives.

What is the Young Persons Project?

We are raising awareness of mental health and also trying to gain a greater understanding of the needs 16-25 year olds in the mental health services.

It was highlighted that there were no services in Angus dedicated to young people. Augment took on this project and gained two years funding from The Camelot Foundation for my post (Young Persons Mental Health Service User Involvement Officer). The post is now funded by NHS Tayside.

One in Five youths in Britain will, at some point, have to deal with a mental health problem, not only do we want to be a preventative measure we want to make sure the services are running in a way that suits your needs!

Links to ACE projects and "What's On":

Diary - Click here.

In the site's diary, you'll find the dates of upcoming events, information sessions and training sessions within ACE. For more information concerning any of these sessions, feel free to email us at Augment@btconnect.com.

News page - Click here.

On the news page, you'll find news of upcoming events and the relevent dates.