The Association of Facilitators (AoF)
The Association of Facilitators (AoF) is a UK-based, not-for-profit membership organisation founded in 2012 to offer high-quality training, accreditation, and supervision for new and experienced group facilitators. The founders of the AoF worked in the fields of facilitation, facilitator training and consulting for many years and launched the AoF in response to two major needs. First, an increasing demand for relational, systemic and holistic approaches to facilitating groups and addressing organisational and social challenges. Second, the need of individual facilitators for a “professional home” and a clear, flexible and supported pathway to becoming a facilitator, with practical support, peer networks and opportunities for developing group facilitation skills.
Leading Group Facilitation in the UK
Our specialism, and our focus for many years has been promotion of excellence in group facilitation and the advancement of the facilitation profession itself. Our offering is built on the pioneering work of many practitioners – those (like us) from the UK and steeped in humanistic psychology, gestalt and organisational development, and those beyond. As an organisation committed to relational and peer working, our commitment is to represent and develop the theory, practice, knowledge and reach of group facilitation and to evolve in a way that is organic and holistic. On a practical, day to day basis, we are keenly engaged with multiple programmes for and client work that promotes human flourishing within groups. For us, representing facilitation as a profession in its own right has benefits beyond those for the individual facilitator or the groups that they work with and contributes towards a more healthy and connected way of being. Our vision is to increase the skill level of individuals in order to generate healthy and positive outcomes for the groups that we all live and work among.
Who do we serve?
Our membership includes managers, leaders, development professionals, and consultants working with private, public, charity, and education bodies — in fact, anyone, in any industry, who leads groups and teams. This includes you if you are…
- Working within an organisation as a change agent, group/team leader, manager, director or project manager, and looking to strengthen your group facilitation skills
- In chairing roles at meetings with developmental, strategic or operational purpose (be that business, charity or education)
- Occasionally called upon to facilitate groups, meetings and teams
- Working as a consultant, change agent, trainer to a client organisation
- Embarking upon a career in facilitation or leadership
Members and course participants are usually facilitating already (or about to be) and may:
- wish to learn about themselves in a group environment from high-quality input and feedback
- benefit from working with more solid grounding at greater psychological depth
- be feeling unequipped or deskilled by previous training/ experiences
- have become aware of the absence of theories and models related to group facilitation in their toolkit
We support everyone working as a facilitator.
We are a registered company, limited by guarantee (not for profit), operating to serve facilitators, team coaches, change agents, organisational consultants, managers, leaders and others who use or wish to use facilitation skills.
What People Say
“I found it such an open and abundant day, not just in terms of the constant supply of lovely food, but the spirit in which you inquired into our style and work. I look forward to hearing from you and meeting you again. How exciting!”
S M, Accredited Facilitator
“I would thoroughly recommend training with the Association of Facilitators. Their material is thorough and extensively researched while their approach is an excellent mix of both practical and theoretical examples. Working with peer groups means your learning is supported and encouraged. I have learned to be a more confident and less “structured” facilitator and will continue to refer to my training notes and the AoF website throughout the coming years.”
K D, Community Development Worker, Farnham
“I have completed my ‘Self-Assessment Summary Statement’ and ‘Statement of Accreditation’, both documents have been challenging to write but the guidance in the handbook and your support and questions have been invaluable. I really feel that this process has taken e forward and overcome some obstacles, not least because of my ‘saturation’ in the activity ”
G W, Accredited Facilitator
“I just wanted to send you both an e mail to personally thank you for opportunity for [Practitioner Accreditation] As you may have noticed I have also gained a huge amount personally from this, wow and thanks!”
R B, Developing Youth Practice
