About the CSJ Alliance

The CSJ Alliance is a free members' network of grassroots charities and voluntary organisations from across the UK. The CSJ identifies models of excellence, effectiveness and innovation in tackling the root causes of poverty, visiting and assessing each charity that joins the Alliance.

All charities invited onto the Alliance:

• Work at the grassroots, with people living in severe poverty and social disadvantage, ranging from young offenders and gang members, to children in care, homeless individuals and families, asylum seekers, recovering addicts and those with mental health problems.
• Tackle the underlying root causes of a person’s poverty, rather than simply addressing the symptoms, leading a person into a fully independent lifestyle.
• Are person-centred, developing personal and committed relationships with their beneficiaries, and tailoring solutions to suit the individual.
• Are collaborative in their approach, valuing the opportunity to solve the problem they are seeking to address through partnership or sharing best practice.
• Display excellence, effectiveness or innovation, no matter what size the organisation.

Benefits for Alliance Members

Endorsement

The CSJ champions the work of its Alliance members at the heart of government, using illustrations and examples of best practice in private meetings, at public events, and in our policy reports. We also provide letters of endorsement to back up funding bids.

Providing Evidence

We work closely alongside Alliance members to identify the problems and root causes in the most disadvantaged communities, and to build strategic, evidence-led policy solutions. We learn from the outstanding and effective solutions that Alliance members have pioneered in the community, and which are successfully turning lives around.

Annual Conference

We run an annual CSJ Alliance Conference, bringing together all members from across the UK for a day of inspirational talks, training seminars and networking. The conference is free, and we offer a travel bursary to those who would otherwise be unable to attend.

Regional Events

We run regional roundtables, seminars and brainstorming sessions to keep more remote organisations engaged with the core of the CSJ’s work, and to give regional opportunities for networking.

Inner City Challenge

Alliance members are offered the chance to have an MP come to spend three days with them, as part of a CSJ programme to expose MPs to the true nature of problems faced by the poorest communities.