Equal Say Advocacy

Equal Say provides independent advocacy mainly through the recruitment of ordinary members of the public as unpaid citizen advocates.

A "citizen" describes everyone, a member of society with rights and responsibilities.
Citizen advocacy is done by one citizen, for another citizen who, for a variety of reasons, may have trouble in taking their rightful place as a citizen because:

"Advocacy" means pleading a cause or speaking out. Citizen advocates speak out for their partners.

These activities take place within relationships that are one-to-one, freely-given, independent, and last for as long as both advocate and partner are happy for it to continue.

Through getting to know their advocacy partner, citizen advocates will come to understand what their 'partner's' needs, wishes and feelings are, and put them forward, as if they were their own.

Occasionally, these relationships can be short-term and based on a particular issue. We call this crisis advocacy.

All citizen and crisis advocates receive a preparation course and ongoing support while the partnership becomes established. Our aim is to foster advocacy partnerships that are free-standing and independent.

With the introduction of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2003, all people with a mental disorder, (this includes people with a learning disability and mental health problems), have the right to access advocacy. In order to able to respond more effectively, Equal Say now provides independent advocacy through our staff in a small number of urgent situations.

We identify people who most need independent representation and then an advocacy co-ordinator will work with that person to decide which type of advocacy is most appropriate. This will take into account the person's own choice, the urgency of their situation and the nature of the issues they wish addressed.

If you know someone who would benefit from independent advocacy, or are interested in becoming a citizen advocate, please contact us.