People come to us with all sorts of advocacy issues. It could be something as simple as not being able to understand letters, bills and paperwork. Other people come to us with housing issues, for help with finding job or volunteering opportunities or for information on local services and activities. 

We support people in accessing community facilities by finding out what is available to them in their local community. Currently, due to the difficult times we are facing with the cost of living crisis, more people are struggling financially, and our advocates assist with finding out entitlement to benefits, financial support and we often we complete applications for people who struggle to do this themselves. We also signpost to advise centres and welfare benefit advisors. Our advocacy team can provide foodbank vouchers and research any other financial support that people may be entitled to. We signpost clients to debt advice if needed.

We believe we are a one stop service and try our best to meet our clients needs holistically. Mental health and wellbeing are impacted by multiple factors. Issues such as housing, money problems, unemployment, work related stress, education, social isolation, lack of access to services, can all play a part, so we do our best to help bridge this through our advocacy service. We also formally advocate for client needs, by either voicing concerns on their behalf, or in writing. 

Advocacy is always client led, and we only take the steps our clients want us to take for them. As an example, this can be voicing client concerns to health and social care services. Many people feel disempowered by the system and need a voice to advocate for them, particularly when it comes to language and cultural issues.

If you feel our advocacy service can help you or someone you know, please call us to discuss.