What Do Volunteer Advocates Do?

These examples of Volunteer Advocate work are based on real cases handled by volunteers, however all names have been changed to protect identities.

Complaints Procedure Advocacy Project

Mrs Graham got in touch with us when she lost her place at a day centre for older people. She was distressed by losing her place and wanted her days at the centre re-instated. After taking initial details from Mrs Graham, the Volunteer Development Worker offered her case to Lisa, a volunteer advocate.

The Volunteer Development Worker and Lisa visited Mrs Graham at home to find out more about her complaint. Lisa then went home to draft a letter for Mrs Graham's approval. Once she was happy with the letter, Mrs Graham posted it off to the complaints officer at Social Services. The complaint was investigated at stage 1 of the complaints process.

The office received notification that Mrs Graham's complaint had been unsuccessful and sent a copy of the letter to Lisa. She then telephoned Mrs Graham and discussed with her what she would like to do next. Mrs Graham decided she would like to continue to challenge Social Services' decision at Stage 2 of the complaints process. Lisa drafted another letter and with Mrs Graham's approval it was posted to Social Services Complaints Department.

An investigating officer was allocated to Mrs Graham and he visited her at home to further investigate her complaint. Mrs Graham requested that Lisa accompany her at the meeting. Lisa supported Mrs Graham to explain her complaint. Subsequently Mrs Graham was reassessed and her day services were reinstated.

Mental Health Project

Mr Harris was about to be discharged from hospital and was concerned about the responsibilities he was facing at home as a full-time carer for his disabled wife. The Mental Health Advocate identified that he needed a carers' needs assessment to support him and arranged for this to take place with his social worker. The case was then allocated to a volunteer advocate, Mark.

Mark got in touch with Mr Harris who asked if he could attend the assessment with him. Mark agreed and arranged with Mr Harris to arrive early to discuss what Mr Harris wanted in order to fulfil his caring responsibilities.

The meeting took place with not only Mr Harris' social worker, but also the social worker of his wife. Due to complications the assessment could not take place, however Mr Harris was able to explain his situation himself, partly due to the planning he had done previously with Mark and partly due to the volunteer's moral support. Both social workers agreed to action several points at this time and another date was set for Mr Harris' carers' needs assessment.

Mr Harris decided he was able to manage the carers assessment by himself, partly because the first meeting with Mark had given him more confidence. Therefore, Mark typed up notes from the meeting and distributed them so that the social workers and Mr Harris could keep track of all the action points.

If you would like to apply to train as a volunteer advocate

Please download an application form and role description. If you would like to find out more, please contact the Volunteer Development Worker.