What is advocacy?

When important decisions are being made about your life, we will stand by you to help you to understand the important issues, understand your rights and take control of your life.

Advocacy means giving a person support to have their voice heard. It is a service aimed at helping people understand their rights and express their views.

Please watch the video below to learn more about advocacy.

Advocacy is what we do

Advocacy seeks to ensure that all people in society are able to:

Have their voice heard on issues that are important to them
Protect and promote their rights
Have their views and wishes genuinely considered when decisions are being made about their lives

Advocacy is a process of supporting and enabling people to:

Express their views, thoughts and concerns
Access information, advice and guidance
Explore choices and options for services and care

How will our Advocates help you?

At Advocacy Focus, we will go above and beyond to support you in whichever way you may need us.

Our Advocates work independently from any local authorities or health/social care professionals, and so you can be confident that our main focus is to support you in the first instance.

We can support you by:

Listening to you
Being non-judgmental
Providing you with information and guidance
Genuinely understanding your concerns
Exploring your options
Helping you think about outcomes and consequences
Respecting your decisions
Helping you to communicate your thoughts, needs and wishes.

When can we help?

If you’re ever finding it a challenge to get your voice heard during any tough situations in your life, we can help.

Some of the common times you may find you need someone 'fighting your corner' include:

When you're using or need access to healthcare or social services
When you're not feeling at your most confident
When you're facing a life changing decision – maybe on where you’re living or what care you’re receiving
When you're coping with personal or family illness, disability of bereavement
When you need practical support if you have a mental health issue or you’re in emotional distress
When you need support to feel fully informed and involved in discussions about things such as medical treatment
When you're being stopped or prevented from doing something that is important to you.

We provide advocacy support in Lancashire, Trafford, Bradford and Rochdale; where local residents come to Advocacy Focus for many different reasons. If for any reason we do not feel that we can support you directly, then we will always point you in the right direction of somebody who can.

Visit our Hub pages below to find out more about the advocacy we provide in the following areas:

Or find out more about how we can help with your health, care or wellbeing needs:

Ways we help

Latest

Helping Elizabeth

Elizabeth* was detained under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act. She had been in hospital for a year, following various trials and seemingly ineffective treatments. Elizabeth’s multi-disciplinary team (MDT) at the hospital were considering electro-convulsive treatment.
Helping Chris

Chris* was detained in hospital under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act due to concerns around his safety. When the advocate first met with Chris, he expressed that he felt that he was not being listened to and felt that people were “talking about me and not to me” – he did not feel in control of his situation.
Helping Neil

Neil* is an older gentleman with schizophrenia who was detained at hospital under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act. Neil was unhappy at being in hospital and felt as though he did not have a mental illness, nor did he require any treatment. Initially Neil declined the advocacy service, but after months of continuing to offer our support Neil began to accept the help of an advocate.
Helping Jane

Jane* had been detained on the ward for several months and felt very anxious about her care and treatment plan. When the advocate met with Jane, they explained her rights under the Mental Health Act. As Jane stated she did not wish to be detained, the advocate ensured Jane understood her right to appeal her section.

Self Advocacy Toolkit

Our Self Advocacy Toolkit is a comprehensive document designed to help you become your own best self advocate.
Refer for an Advocate

During COVID-19 Advocacy Focus will continue to take your referrals and provide high-quality advocacy and support to the people in our communities. We work hard to help people to live the life they want to live.
Become an Advocacy Friend

Do you want help us shout about the great work we do? Do you want to help people in your community? Take our online course to become an Advocacy Friend.

Donations in Action - Cathy's Donation

Cathy* was a service user who donated £100 to Advocacy Focus after she received high quality advocacy support during a health complaint. Click to read more. Read more

Investing In Volunteers Award

We’re delighted to announce that the development and training we undertake with our volunteers has been recognised by the UK Quality Assurance Panel and in December 2020 we were awarded Investing in Volunteer status. Read more