The Luton Advice Network (LAN) is a collaboration of advice agencies and local community organisations who have agreed to work together to improve the availability and quality of advice services provided to residents of Luton. The LAN has been formed by a partnership of Quality Marked advice agencies in Luton. It has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund. Membership of the LAN is free and is open to all organisations from the voluntary, community, public and private sectors who provide advice services or who signpost or refer Luton residents to advice services. The idea is that, by working together, improving communication, and sharing information between advice agencies and community organisations, we can improve advice services in Luton.     Objectives of the Luton Advice Network To improve communication, explore joint working, share practice and improve the quality of advice services provided by Luton Advice Network Members. To organise a series of themed Networking Events for member organisations, to enable improved communication, cohesion, development of best practise and improved quality of advice services in Luton To establish and run a new Telephone Gateway Service available 5 mornings per week. To create and develop a community based Gateway Outreach service to improve access to advice for Luton residents at their first point of contact To provide a programme of Training for staff, volunteers and trustees of member organisations to improve skills of advice givers and quality of advice services. To provide a community based programme of educational workshops to empower beneficiaries to make informed decisions about problems before they become a crisis. To support voluntary community member organisations to work towards and gain an appropriate quality mark relevant to the advice services they provide. To develop shared operational protocols and referral mechanisms across the network to ensure a consistent high quality service for clients at the first point of contact. To monitor, review and evaluate the effectiveness of the Luton Advice Network. To resource and manage the continued development of the Luton Advice Network. To promote the Luton Advice Network and increase membership. To network with similar organisations outside of Luton.