Archive

  1. Advocacy Focus Once Again Wins QPM Award!

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    The Quality Performance Mark (QPM) is the only quality mark for organisations that deliver Independent Advocacy. The National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) is responsible for assessing and awarding organisations with QPM status. Being awarded the QPM is confirmation that an organisation is delivering the gold standard of advocacy- you are amongst the crème de la crème of advocacy services. It is widely recognised and respected across the advocacy sector. It demonstrates that an organisation is delivering advocacy in line with the Advocacy Charter. Here at Advocacy Focus we pride ourselves on quality, so much so it is included as one of our organisation’s core values. So, achieving QPM status is a huge deal for us!

    The purpose of a QPM assessment is to make sure that our advocacy policies are up to date, we are following best practice, and all our delivery is in line with the QPM standards that are required to gain and hold the award. The QPM assessment gives us an opportunity to showcase to an industry expert all the work that we do, who then examines how we are delivering our advocacy services in line with the QPM standards and the Advocacy Charter. We’re then given useful feedback that we can use to shape and develop our services further.

    We have proudly held QPM for many years, and every 3 years we undergo further assessment to hold our QPM status, which ensures that we continue to meet the standard. We recently underwent our assessment for QPM once again and are happy to confirm that we achieved our QPM status once more!

    Some of the glowing feedback from NDTi demonstrates exactly how we are delivering quality advocacy services in line with the principles of the Advocacy Charter:

    Clarity of Purpose – “Advocates had an impressive understanding of the importance of being clear about their roles, remits, and professional boundaries and how to communicate the purpose of advocacy to people who use their services and to professionals. They were clear about the purpose of all the types of advocacy they offer. This was reflected throughout the organisation.”

    Independence – “Advocates and Mangers clearly prioritise their independence from service providers, funders, commissioners, and other stakeholders. They gave excellent examples of how they maintain their independence in practice and how important it is to demonstrate independence to people who use their services.”

    Person-led and empowerment – “This is an outstanding area of good practice. Advocacy Focus supports self-advocacy with toolkits and other resources, such as the Justice for LB Toolkit available on the website. Advocates were clear about ways in which they work in a person-centred way and how they support people to get their voices heard. Advocacy Focus has co-produced excellent easy read guides and documents. There was a clear commitment to encouraging self-advocacy wherever possible. Advocacy Focus has a commitment to learning from people who use the services, for example using feedback from its RPR service to create a new RPR fact sheet.”

    Accessibility – “Easy read options and a very clear website ensure that services are accessible, along with use of translations and interpreters when needed. The website has an excellent video: ‘What is advocacy and how can we help you to self-advocate?”

    Supporting Advocates – “This is another outstanding area of excellence at Advocacy Focus. Staff report feeling very well supported and staff wellbeing is clearly prioritised. There is an open, trusting culture of honesty, peer support, managerial support, enquiry and reflection, teamwork, personal and organisational development. Staff reported manageable workloads, autonomy, and good communication. Staff and volunteers appreciate outstanding and positive leadership around wellbeing.”

    As part of the assessment process the QPM assessor speaks to people who have worked closely with Advocacy Focus, including people our Independent Advocates have supported, and external professionals in the health and social care sector. Some of the wonderful feedback we received from our stakeholders included:

    “My advocate understood my needs and wishes, we had rapport straight away…I’d still be there now if it wasn’t for them. There’s nothing they could have done better, she was superb. The outcome was exactly what I wanted, largely due to the advocate.” – Person who has used services

    “She had a lovely manner, very skilled, very person centred.” – Person who has used services

    “I could always get in touch (with the advocate), messages were always passed on and responded to. The whole services was excellent, really welcoming, nothing was too much trouble.” – Person who has used services

    “(The advocate was) helpful, listened to me and what I was dealing with, help with paperwork, even though the outcome was not what I wanted, her help was phenomenal, she went above and beyond. The advocate and the company, no-one else has ever helped me like that.” – Person who has used services.

    “They provide a very clear voice for the individual, their reports are very thorough with detailed evidence of what the person is saying, next steps and any action.” – Health and social care professional

    “Advocates create and maintain positive working relationships whilst also being very forceful on the side of the child or young person they are working with.” – Health and social care professional

    “The quality of their reports is excellent. They are like a dog with a bone, they are persistent… I have confidence that they do the job properly, they know DOLS inside out. They have the confidence to challenge where they need to. 10 out of 10.” – Health and social care professional

    Hearing feedback like this makes us so proud to have an amazing team who are dedicated to going above and beyond to deliver quality advocacy worthy of the QPM award. Here’s to another 3 years of being a QPM awarded advocacy provider!

    We are completely humbled by the glowing assessment, and we have big plans for the charity over the next three years, with a continued commitment to young people and adults across the North, helping people live the lives they want to live!

  2. Do you want to become a Trustee?

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    Are you interested in becoming a Trustee of a leading advocacy charity and Top Employer in Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index, 2022? We are especially keen to hear from people within underrepresented groups.

    Over 12 months we supported 6381 people with complex advocacy issues.

    What skills could you help us with?

    • Lived experience of advocacy or health and social care issues
    • Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
    • Fundraising and business development
    • Local government policy and procurement

    Who we are:

    • We have provided person-led advocacy across the North of England since 1998
    • Our advocates support people to understand their rights, options and enable people to make informed decisions about their health and social care.
    • Simply put: we help people live the lives they want to live.

    If you are interested in becoming a Trustee or would like more information, please email admin@advocacyfocus.org.uk

  3. Menopause Focus

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    We have the first two volumes of our Menopause Focus series available to download now!

    Volume 1: What is Menopause? – covers a range of topics from an introduction to what menopause is, symptoms, support groups and more! Download the booklet by clicking here!

    Volume 2: Menopause and the Workplace Guide – includes tips for managing menopause at work and how to support someone at work who is going through menopause. Download the booklet by clicking here!

  4. Liberty Protection Safeguards

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    In March, the government launched a consultation on various documents that will support the implementation of the Liberty Protection Safeguards. This included a new draft Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice and new draft Regulations. These documents have been long-awaited since the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act (which introduced the Liberty Protection Safeguards) was passed in 2018. It was hoped that these documents would put ‘flesh on the bones’ of the legislation and give more detail about how the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) will work in practice. 

    What are the Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS)? 

    If someone is deprived of their liberty through their care or treatment arrangements, and they lack capacity to consent to the arrangements, this must be authorised by a legal framework to ensure the person’s human rights are protected. Currently, this is authorised via the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) if the person lives in a care home or is in hospital, or by the Court of Protection if the person lives in the community. LPS will replace the DoLS and will apply to all settings, so there will be no need to apply to the Court of Protection for an authorisation. LPS will also apply to people aged 16+.  

    What have we been doing during the consultation? 

    As well as preparing and submitting our consultation response, Advocacy Focus have been busy engaging with our stakeholders and colleagues from other advocacy providers. We have chaired a nationwide LPS subgroup of advocacy providers, facilitating discussion of the main talking points arising from the consultation documents. We have also signed up to a joint advocacy sector response with around 30 other advocacy providers. 

    We co-hosted a webinar with Kate Mercer Training and NDTI to engage the wider advocacy community with the consultation. This involved looking at some of the key provisions of the draft Code of Practice and Regulations relating to advocacy and the IMCA role (and the consultation questions relating to these) and thinking about some of the key points advocacy providers may wish to make when responding to the consultation. Neil Allen from 39 Essex Chambers also kindly attended and spoke about the good points and concerns about advocacy provision as set out in the draft Code of Practice.  

    We have attended meetings held by the Department of Health and Social Care to discuss our feedback on the role of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) and the Appropriate Person.  

    We have also been discussing our thoughts and main feedback points from the consultation with our commissioners, making them aware of the changes and the level of funding that is likely to be required in order to facilitate the increased number of advocates that will be needed to implement the LPS as envisaged by the draft Code of Practice. 

    What points did we make in our consultation response? 

    In our own consultation response, we made several points relating to the provision of advocacy and how the Code and Regulations address this. We raised concerns around how neither the Regulations nor the Code set a minimum required frequency for Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCAs) to visit the person deprived of their liberty (which could lead to the quality of the IMCA service becoming a ‘postcode lottery’). Further, the regulations do not give an IMCA the right to meet with the person deprived of their liberty when the IMCA is supporting their Appropriate Person – we feel that this reduces the current 39D IMCA role where the IMCA provides an additional safeguard to the person when being supported by an unpaid representative (generally family or friends). We referenced several parts of the draft Code of Practice where the role of an IMCA is incorrectly stated – e.g. IMCAs are not mediators, nor do they express a view about what is best for the person or what the person should do. 

    We looked at the figures estimated by the impact assessment and compared those to the current trends we see in our referral rates under DoLS. We also considered the increase in the level of responsibility in the role of the Appropriate Person (that will be taken on by a family or friend) compared to the current unpaid Relevant Person’s Representative role (RPR) and questioned whether as many people would be prepared to take on this role as the impact assessment states. We therefore made the point that the actual demand for advocacy would likely be higher than estimated by the impact assessment. We have made the point that if LPS is to be as person-centred as the draft Code of Practice envisages, it is vitally important that sufficient funding is provided to advocacy providers to train their existing advocates in LPS but also to recruit and train new advocates. 

    We also share the concerns raised by many others throughout the consultation period regarding the definition of deprivation of liberty as set out in the draft Code of Practice. We raised concerns that if the definition is applied as set out in the draft Code and example scenarios, lots of people who currently have a DoLS authorisation would not be eligible for an LPS authorisation, leaving lots of people heavily restricted but without any safeguards or support in place to challenge this. 

    What happens next? 

    The government will publish their response to the consultation – they have said that they will do this in Winter, so this could be late this year or early next year. There is not yet a date set for the implementation of LPS. We will continue to monitor for updates and continue to hold meetings of the advocacy LPS sub-group. 

  5. “Undercover Hospital: Patients at Risk” blog post

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    The BBC Panorama documentary “Undercover Hospital: Patients at Risk” which aired this week, clearly showed how some mental health services are still systemically failing people who need their help and support at a time of crisis. The mental health unit highlighted in the documentary is now the subject of a criminal investigation, after an undercover reporter exposed the unit’s degrading treatment and abuse towards the patients. There is still a misconception that abuse does not occur within professional services, especially since the Winterbourne View hospital abuse scandal in 2011. However, Panorama exposed a toxic culture and abusive environment within the secure Edenfield Unit in Prestwich, where detained patients were being treated in an inhumane and degrading way. Patients were being subjected to physical, emotional, and psychological abuse, instead of receiving the necessary therapeutic care and treatment to aid their recovery and subsequent discharge from the hospital.

    Whilst we have no knowledge of what services or organisations may have been available to the patients within Edenfield, as an independent advocacy provider, Advocacy Focus trains our team to adopt a degree of professional curiosity. To be tuned into their gut feelings, to question, challenge and to think that if something doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t. Any advocacy provider working within health and social care must have a presence within mental health hospitals as a priority, to help safeguard, listen to and inform people of their rights. People’s voices should never be silenced just because they are experiencing a mental health crisis. Any concerns raised should be investigated to the full extent, and the abuse stopped and prevented from ever occurring again. If patients on the wards and their families know what their rights are and who they can turn to if things go wrong, then they are bound to have better outcomes, feel safe and move towards recovery and their return home.

    If you have a friend or loved one receiving treatment currently from a mental health facility, or something like this has happened to you, you can find out more about Independent Advocacy and how we can help. Advocacy Focus is independent of the local authority, health and social care services and is on your side. You are not alone and there is help available. If you need more information about the services our charity provides, you can find it here. Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) – Advocacy Focus

    If you have been affected by the programme and are struggling to understand and process the events you have witnessed, then please reach out to Advocacy Focus for advocacy support or for help accessing further support from other local organisations. You can call us on 0300 323 0965, or reach out via our live chat facility at www.advocacyfocus.org.uk

  6. Positive Voices Conference

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    Last week some of our Advocates travelled down to Birmingham for the Positive Voices conference! This post is a collection of images from their Twitter takeover! If you want to read through the Twitter thread – just click here!

  7. World Refugee Day 2022

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    Today is #WorldRefugeeDay and it’s hard to think of a period when the international refugee regime has felt more under threat.

    It isn’t just the government which is directly attacking the legal principles which were set out to protect them, across the world refugees are demonised and discriminated against.

    Countries like Greece continue to operate illegal pushback operations which have already cost thousands of lives. The UK continues to enact inhumane policies, such as tagging and forced deportation. Denmark is attempting to follow suit and build on existing policies of confiscating asylum seekers’ valuables.

    In France both asylum seekers and those seeking to help them routinely face attacks from the authorities. Italy has seen a concerted attempt to criminalise humanitarian assistance for those crossing the Mediterranean.

    There are countless more examples, and it’s easy to feel bleak and helpless in the face of it all. We have however seen that hope shines eternal. The proposed deportation flight to Rwanda on Tuesday was stopped thanks to the efforts of diligent lawyers and campaigners. Communities have stood up, as in Peckham, to prevent immigration enforcement removing people.

    #WorldRefugeeDay is all about 

    • Protecting those who so desperately need it. 
    • Amplify their voices and 
    • Continuing to campaign for their rights. 

    Show we stand #TogetherWithRefugees, because together we can turn the tide and create a more welcoming world.

    Here are some useful links if you, or someone you know, needs support:

  8. Masterclass on Conditional and Absolute discharge

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    On Tuesday 24th of May we were joined by a host of speakers from across the country to discuss conditional discharges and how Independent Mental Health Advocates and practitioners can support individuals who are subject to this section.

    Perspectives were shared by legal experts, approved clinicians, the Ministry of Justice, Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHA), family, friends, and most importantly, those with lived experience. We also launched new resources including information for conditionally discharged patients in plain English, guidance for family members and guidance for IMHA’s to support conditionally discharged patients. There is also a patient’s rights easy read in development.

    Speakers included 39 Essex Chambers Barrister Neil Allen, Associate Director of Nursing Christine Hutchinson, Mike Nolan the Head of Team 2 in the Mental Health Casework Section of the Ministry of Justice, and Roger Banks who is the National Clinical Director of Learning Disability and Autism at NHS England.

    You can find below the resources mentioned during the event, and we welcome you to share these widely through your networks to ensure all who need this information have access to it:

    Brand new IMHA resources

    Advocacy Focus – Conditionally Discharged Presentation Workshops slides

    Conditional Discharge Rights Launch

    Submit a discharge request for restricted patients 

    Unlock – Advocacy service for people with criminal records

    Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Practical Guide

    Working with restricted patients GOV.UK

    If you attended our event and haven’t completed the evaluation form, you can find it here

    If you are a professional working with people who are conditionally discharged, the updated practice guidance can be found here

    To stay up to date with future events and resources, please sign up to our newsletter here.

  9. Human Rights Act Open Letter

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    We stand together as Advocacy, Information & Advice Charities calling on the Prime Minister and our government to protect the Human Rights Act

    On May 18th 2022, we wrote to the Prime Minister to raise our concerns about the proposed scrapping of the Human Rights Act, and the proposed introduction of the  Bill of Rights.

    Advocacy Focus has collaborated with over 40 Advocacy, Information and Advice Charities to bring attention to the important rights and protections the Human Rights Act offers our collective beneficiaries to live as equal people and to be treated with dignity.

    Our letter to the Prime Minister can be read below in full. The letter was organised by the national advocacy Charity POhWER. To have your Charity or Organisation added to this letter digitally, be added to the mailing list for future campaign activity or for other queries relating to this letter please contact POhWER Chief Executive at helen.moulinos@pohwer.net  or Leanne Hignett – leanneh@advocacyfocus.org.uk at Advocacy Focus who can support you with your query.

    The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP
    Prime Minister

    10 Downing Street,

    Westminster,

    London

    SW1A 2AA

    May 18, 2022

    Dear Prime Minister,

    Human Rights Act & Proposed Bill of Rights

    We the undersigned represent Charities and organisations who have supported millions of people to have their rights upheld and voices heard through advocacy, information, and advice since the Human Rights Act was introduced.

    The UK has and continues to be a leader in the development and contributor of human rights law over the last hundred years. Since joining the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) we have been bound to comply with its provisions. The Human Rights Act brought rights home and created an important obligation for public authorities to comply with ECHR.

    The Human Rights Act commits public authorities to comply with the European Convention of Human Rights in their policies, procedures and decision making. As advocates we see the positive impact Human Rights Act has had on the people we support through our charitable work.

    Without the Human Rights Act, the modern advocacy profession might not exist with the same powerful impact or independent scrutiny. The Human Rights Act is at the epi-centre of a framework of rights and entitlements complemented by the Equality Act, Care Act, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, Liberty Protection Safeguards, Mental Health Act, Mental Capacity Act, related legislation in the devolved nations and Safeguarding.

    Thanks to the Human Rights Act as advocates, we are able to independently challenge public authorities that support us in our everyday lives.

    We help people to live as equal people through the cases we manage to have their human rights upheld in public services. 

    Advocacy is one of the many ways in which people can be supported and empowered to uphold their rights and entitlements, be provided with choices and options, and safeguarded from harm and abuse. An advocate can help a person to:

    • speak up for themselves or give their views
    • understand the process they are going through, their rights and what choices are available to them
    • be part of an important decision which is being made about them
    • prepare for and take part in meetings and tribunals
    • raise queries or concerns
    • access information in the format which is most suitable
    • access services that can support them

    Advocates can also provide information and signpost people to other helpful services. Our intervention often means people do not need to access justice through the courts or legal pathway as our intervention empowers people and protects their human rights.

    The current laws protect everyone in the UK no matter who they are or what their own situation may be. The proposed reforms would significantly reduce the legal responsibilities the Government currently has towards us and diminish mechanisms for our collective Charity beneficiaries to hold public services accountable and to be treated as equal people.

    The proposed Bill of Rights would offer opt-outs to public authorities to pick and choose whose rights they supported and if/when they supported those rights.  Many of the people we support are socially excluded, vulnerable and/or marginalised.

    To focus this consultation on just a few minor legal technicalities and procedural nuances is diminishing the wider role the HRA 1998 plays to support people in everyday life and enable them to live as dignified people. Without HRA 1998, there would be no clear rulebook to govern expectations of conduct when dealing with public services such as Statutory Bodies, Local Authority, Prisons, NHS, DWP, Immigration, Housing and Coroner Service.

    We believe the changes proposed are detrimental to our beneficiaries and would remove independent scrutiny of public services and the important role of advocacy. 

    We are calling on a wider study and equality impact assessment to understand the realities on the wider UK population,  requesting for a meeting to share case studies and evidence on how HRA benefits the people we support every day through public authority independent scrutiny and mitigates often wider escalations in the legal process. Scrapping HRA would be detrimental to our beneficiaries, public authorities and wreak havoc with framework of other intersecting rights laws and codes of practices.

    Our society remains unfair and unequal – the millions of people who sought support through our Charities should serve as significant reminder that the Human Rights Act 1998 and other protection laws are not currently being necessarily always upheld by local and central government bodies. Independent scrutiny, challenge, and freedom for people to empower themselves is a fundamental part of our society and democracy.

    Yours sincerely,

    Helen Moulinos, Chief Executive, POhWER

    Jo Moore, CEO, Accommodation Concern

    Peter Walsh, Chief Executive, Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA)

    Mr Abe Ncube, Advocacy 1st, Community Connex

    Leanne Hignett, Service Delivery Director, Advocacy Focus

    Elssa Keegan, CEO, Advocacy Matters

    Judith Davey, Chief Executive Officer, The Advocacy Project

    Sabrina Solomon, Head of Service Delivery, The Advocacy Project

    Ian Maxey, Deputy Head of Service Delivery, The Advocacy Project

    Natasha Fox, CEO, Advocacy West Wales-Eiriolaeth Gorllewin Cymru

    Philip Bramson, Chief Executive, Advonet

    Ewan Roberts, Centre Manager, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Sr Ruth Miller, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Theresa Mawson, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Kevin Keech, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Bridie Sharkey, Trustee, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Kacey Jones, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Peter Simm, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Ged Edwards, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Gareth Hankinson, Staff, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Steve Hawkins, Trustee, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Mike Storry, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Dr Paula Grey, Trustee, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Shahzad Wilson Mukerjee, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Hilary Hopkin, Volunteer, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Jannatul Chowdhury, Staff, Asylum Link Merseyside

    Chris Vick, Service Director, Advocacy Services for North East Wales (ASNEW)

    Emily Barratt, Deputy Director, Brighton and Hove Speak Out

    Chris Mounsher, Advocate, Brighton and Hove Speak Out

    Emma Lopez, Engagement officer, Brighton and Hove Speak Out

    Jeanette Goodman, Advocacy Team Leader, Brighton and Hove Speak Out

    Sarah Coombes, Volunteer Coordinator, Brighton and Hove Speak Out

    Sanchita Hosali, CEO, British Institute of Human Rights

    Philip Kerr, Carers Federation

    Angus Claydon, Director of Operations, The Care Forum

    Kevin Peltonen-Messenger, CEO, The Care Forum

    Michèle Stokes, Chief Executive Officer, Carers in Hertfordshire

    Roma Mills, Policy and Engagement Manager, Carers in Hertfordshire

    Colin Ling CEO, Chinese Wellbeing

    Di Burbidge Service Development Manager, Chinese Wellbeing

    Jack Davey, Advice Service Lead, CHAS Bristol

    Alice Tibbert, Director, CHAS Bristol

    Suzi Henderson, CEO, Cloverleaf Advocacy

    Cherry Pedler, Manager, Community Support Network South London (CSN)

    Garrick Prayogg,  Project Manager, Cultural Diversity Network

    Maria Dolly Galvis Zapata, Chief Executive Officer, The Elfrida Society

    Ali F. Jabeen, Operations Manager, Specialist Advocacy Services for Parents with Learning Disabilities and/or Difficulties, The Elfrida Society

    Deborah Kober Specialist Advocates for Adults and Parents with Learning Disabilities and/or Learning Difficulties, The Elfrida Society

    Janay Crooks, Specialist Advocates for Adults and Parents with Learning Disabilities and/or Learning Difficulties, The Elfrida Society

    Nikki Chivers, Group Facilitator for Adults with Learning Disabilities, The Elfrida Society

    Lynne Stafford, Chief Executive, Gaddum

    Ben Whalley, Head of Operations, Gaddum

    Caroline Ridley CEO, Impact Initiatives

    Louise Peim Operations and Contracts Manager, Impact Initiatives

    Sam Grant, Head of Policy and Campaigns, Liberty

    Katy Porter, CEO, Manor Gardens Welfare Trust

    Saiqa Sahotra Community Advocate, Mary Seacole House

    Alex Coombes Specialist Advocate, Mary Seacole House

    Ben Allen Community Advocate, Mary Seacole House

    Miatta Mac-Boimah Outreach Worker, Mary Seacole House

    Simon Torkington Advocacy and Training Manager, Mary Seacole House

    Dr Melvin Bradley, CEO, MhIST

    Gillian Unsworth, CEO, Mind in Brighton and Hove

    Sharn Tomlinson, Chief Executive Officer, Mind in Mid Herts

    Michelle Kabia, CEO, Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham

    Fiona Scaife, Operational Director for Advocacy Services, Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham

    Shelu Miah, Operations Director, Mind in Tower Hamlets and Newham

    Rita Hirani, CEO MindOut.

    Mandy Bigden-Slack, Advocacy Service Manager, MindOut

    Teresa Jennings, Chief Executive, n-compass

    Rita Waters, Group Chief Executive, NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service)

    Kate Harvey CEO, Onside Advocacy

    Suzanne Watterson Advocacy Services Manager, Onside Advocacy

    Janine Daniels- Stretch Advocacy Services Manager, Onside Advocacy

    Tony Kildare, Board Chair of Trustees, POhWER

    Elyzabeth Hawkes, Deputy Chief Executive, POhWER

    Fiona McArthur-Worbey, Director of Fundraising & Engagement, POhWER

    Sandra Black, Associate Director, POhWER

    Caroline Caesar‑Caston, ​Associate Director, POhWER

    Martin Humes, Associate Director, POhWER

    Jayne Degiorgio​, Head of Service London and South East, POhWER

    Rose Humphries, Head of Service Central, Northeast & Scotland, POhWER

    Anna Hansell, Head of Service South West and Wales, POhWER

    Olivia Guerini, Suicide Support Therapist, Rethink Mental Illness

    Gary Underhill, Spearman

    Arran Evans, Director, Sussex Interpreting Services

    Emma Edwards, Director of Operations & Quality, Together

    Tracy Moss, Operations and Development Manager, Together

    Penelope Gibbs, Director, Transform Justice

    Leslie Billy, Chief Executive, Viewpoint

    Sharon Cullerton, Director, Vital Projects

    Sara Firth, Chairperson, Vital Projects

    Jonathan Senker, Chief Executive, VoiceAbility

    Patricia Curran, Advocacy Service Manager, York Advocacy Hub

  10. Charter for Employer Positive About Mental Health

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    Advocacy Focus are proud to have signed the ‘Charter for Employer Positive About Mental Health’

    Established in 2004, Mindful Employer is a UK wide initiative run by Devon Partnership NHS Trust.

    Providing employers with easier access to professional Workplace Mental Health training, information and support, the initiative aims to help empower employers to take a lead in supporting the mental wellbeing of their staff.

    By signing the ‘Charter for Employer Positive About Mental Health’ Advocacy Focus have made a public statement of our desire to support the mental health of our staff across the organisation.