Ashford Mediation Service

Ashford Mediation Service (AMS) was founded on 29 September 1997. It is a registered charity dedicated to helping people in the local Ashford area to resolve their disputes through professional mediation. AMS has helped over 1,000 disputes through its mediation service with a 92% success rate.

Contact Ashford Mediation Service

Ashford Mediation Service is always open. If you need to get in touch please call 07845 914 838 or you can email the team.

You can follow AMS on Facebook and follow AMS on Twitter.

What is mediation?

“Mediation” means having a third party help the interested parties reach an agreement.

Mediation gives those involved control over the way that their dispute or difference of opinion is dealt with. It is an effective alternative to going to court, often being both quicker and cheaper. These days, mediation is seen worldwide as an effective long term solution to disputes.

The service offered by AMS is:

Confidential;
Impartial;
Open to all;
Structured and follows a timetable;
Free in most instances;
Run by professionally trained mediators;
A service where, in over 80% of the cases they have been involved in, both sides where very happy with the outcome.

For the individual, mediation can:

Reduce the stress of conflict;
Defuse the feelings around disputes;
Offer a solution to those who cannot afford a legal option;
Reduce the fear of seeking a solution – going to the authorities, for example, is seen as confrontational;
Offers an option with a more likely longer term resolution.

For the community, mediation can:

Reduce the stress of conflict;
Defuse the feelings around disputes;
Offer communities the option to resolve issues internally;
Provide an accessible, alternative non-court option to resolve differences;
Encourage others to become mediators;
Create a better environment for all.

For local services, mediation can:

Reduce the amount of required police or council intervention, and therefore public money, in disputes;
Provide solutions that keep people out of the courts, reducing court time and costs;
Provide a more harmonious environment in which business and the community can operate.

AMS looks to help for form of dispute, but specialises in the following areas:

Neighbourhood disputes;
Community mediation;
Family disagreement resolution – e.g. problems between parents, carers, teenage children, siblings or other relatives. Child access issues for separated parents where no court action is required;
Conflicts in school.