Citizen Advocacy
In the Government White Paper of 0f 2001, Valuing People recognised the importance of advocacy in helping people exercise choice and control. ‘Effective advocacy can transform the lives of people with learning disabilities by enabling them to express their wishes and aspirations and make real choices’, that is why Learning Disability Wales feels that it is important to work with advocacy organisations across Wales as part of an information sharing network.
Citizen Advocacy is about individual active citizenship, where one member of the community makes a commitment to the rights of another who is disadvantaged and/or socially excluded. This commitment can be time limited and assist a person with a specific issue or it can be a longer term commitment where an advocacy relationship develops. Citizen Advocates play a vital role in facilitating access for the individual to a whole range of advice, information and community supports. This may include access to other forms of advocacy for example from a solicitor.
Citizen Advocates do not give advice. Their role is to provide independent, conflict free support to the individual in obtaining advice and support. By assisting their Partner in this way they are working to promote social inclusion. One of the main aims of longer term partnerships is to combat the discrimination and social exclusion experienced by the Advocacy Partner.
Citizen Advocacy is undertaken by a range of groups across the country that recruits and prepares volunteer Citizen Advocates and matches them to Advocacy Partners who they have identified as wanting and needing them. A Citizen Advocate befriends and builds up a relationship of trust with their partner and is then able to speak up –as if they were the partner on issues relating to the partner’s life. The Citizen Advocate will usually only have one Advocacy Partner.
We are yet to fill the trustee post for Citizen Advocacy. If you have good experience in this field and would like to play a part in forwarding the citizen advocacy agenda via the work of Learning Disability Wales, then please contact us about becoming a member of our management committee.
