Membership Application

We are a membership organisation, and membership is open to any individual living in Scotland aged 16 or over who is in agreement with the purposes of CAPS. 

CAPS’ purposes are to advance and promote human rights; facilitate community development and educate people about mental health issues through the provision of:

1. independent collective advocacy to people who are experiencing, or have experienced mental health issues or disadvantage;
2. independent individual advocacy to people experiencing disadvantage and who need help to express their views and wishes;
3. education and information sessions informed and led by people with experience of mental health issues.

CAPS is a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), which means that: 

• membership of CAPS may not be transferred from one member to another, and

members must:

• act in the interests of CAPS, and
• seek, in good faith, to ensure that CAPS acts in a manner which is consistent with its charitable purposes.

For more information about our charitable purposes and membership, our constitution here.

Privacy Notice

CAPS’ constitution requires potential members to complete a written application (overleaf) and to keep a register of members, which must include a person’s name, address, date of registration and date on which they ceased to be a member. This is a legal obligation under The Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations Regulations 2011. We also ask for your e-mail address and phone number – this is optional, but it is in our legitimate interests to have this information as it reduces the costs to the charity to contact you in this way.

The information you give us will be used to confirm your membership, contact you about members’ meetings, record your attendance at meetings and other membership matters.

Your information will usually only be seen by CAPS staff, although other members may ask for a copy of the register. If a member (rather than a charity trustee) makes such a request, we’ll provide a copy that only includes names and membership dates. The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and our auditor might also sometimes ask to see names and membership dates to make sure we have sufficient members. We may also sometimes have to pass on information if we believe you or another person might be at risk – for more information about this, please ask the CEO or Finance & Administration Manager for a copy of our Confidentiality Policy.

We’ll keep your name, address, e-mail address and phone number for as long as you are a member. If you stop being a member we have to keep your name and the date on which you ceased to be a member for 6 years from that date. Minutes of members’ meetings are kept indefinitely.

You have the following rights about your information:

• the right of access – e.g. to ask for a copy;
• the right to rectification – e.g. to ask us to correct mistakes;
• the right to restrict processing – e.g. to ask us to stop using it for a period of time if you think we are doing something wrong;
• the right to raise concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you think we are doing something wrong. ICO website: ico.org.uk

With regard to your e-mail address and phone number you have the following additional rights:

• the right to object to processing – e.g. to ask us to stop using it;
• the right to erasure – e.g. to ask us to erase it;

You can speak to the CEO or Finance & Administration Manager about any of these rights, and for more details about how we manage information, please ask for a copy of our Data Protection policy.

Please provide the information requested below. (Please remember to keep your contact information up-to-date by contacting us if your information changes.)