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  1. Advocacy Focus Goes International

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    Advocacy Focus has been commissioned by researchers and Advocates in Japan, who wish to find out more about children and young people’s advocacy services in the UK.

    Our training portfolio has gained momentum over the last year, working with the likes of Footasylum, Citizen’s Advice and more. Now we are excited to announce our new partnership with a group of professionals in Japan, who are looking to legislate child advocacy services and train Advocates in their country.

    Our dedicated training and children’s advocacy teams have worked with the research group on a one to one basis to build a bespoke session on ‘Children and Young People’s Advocacy Practice in the UK.’ The training includes an overview of qualifications and training, challenges facing the sector, case studies, how we visit and support children and young people in local authority care and much more.

    Justine Hodgkinson, CEO, says:

    “We are really excited to be working with the team in Japan. Not only does it show how strong the UK’s advocacy sector is but having been referred to us from an esteemed source, how strong our own advocacy service and training provision is.

    “I am extremely proud of Carolina who has worked hard to overhaul our training provision over the last year, which has seen us work with many forward thinking organisations. We know this is just the start of our international training portfolio and welcome any businesses to get in touch if they require advocacy training.

    “I am extremely proud of our team and our training offer that has thrived over the last year, despite the challenges we have faced due to the pandemic. We have worked with many forward thinking organisations and we are hopeful that this is just the first of many international opportunities to share best practice. We have delivered advocacy related activities for over 23 years, any businesses that want to work with us to improve their offer are in a safe pair of hands.”

    Masatsugu Hori, part of the team in Japan, says:

    “We first heard about Advocacy Focus through a glowing recommendation from our esteemed friends Jane Darlymple and Kate Mercer. We had a look at the website and saw the great work [they are] doing to lead advocacy in the UK, and we wanted to ask them to run the workshop.

    “In Japan, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) is currently considering the establishment of a system of child advocacy, and such new system is expected to be established in 2022. Some of our researchers have been involved in a Government Committee to recommend the creation of an independent and powerful advocacy system on the model of the UK.

    “There are also model advocacy projects in several local authorities across the country, some of which run by commissioned children’s rights organisation. For example, we are now in our fourth year of advocacy work in Osaka, where we visit institutions. Our group is made up mainly of researchers and practitioners who have been involved in such activities.”

  2. Advocacy Focus’s Roadmap out of lockdown

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    Following the recent publication of the Government’s “roadmap out of lockdown”, the way we are delivering our services will be changing.

    All during the lockdowns we have continued to carry out face to face visits with the people we support in essential circumstances, in line with government guidance. We now plan to complete all our visits face-to-face visit wherever it is safe and appropriate to do so .

    We recognise that this approach may not suit everyone, and you may prefer to continue receiving support from an advocate remotely, to keep yourself and others safe. We will therefore continue to offer virtual appointments for those that would prefer them.

    The health and wellbeing of the people we support, and our team, remain our top priority and we are committed to slowing the rate of transmission of COVID-19.

    Please do not be alarmed if our team are wearing face masks, or other protective equipment. Our advocates will also be adhering to the 2-metre social distancing rule for your safety and their own.

    The past 14 months have been challenging for us all, but we are hopeful for a brighter future. If you need any information, advice or support in relation to your advocacy needs or health and wellbeing please visit fill in the contact form or call us us on 0300 3230965

    Keep safe and well

  3. Advocacy Focus sign the Armed Forces Covenant

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    We are delighted to demonstrate our support for the Armed Forces Community by signing the Armed Forces Covenant. Here at Advocacy Focus we currently employ 3 Armed Forces Veterans, including our CEO Justine Hodgkinson.

  4. Demonstrating our support for Dementia Awareness Week

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    Dementia is set to be the 21st century’s biggest killer. But awareness and understanding remains low and many families are facing it alone.

    To play our part the awareness week, we thought we would share how we help people living with dementia through our highly skilled advocacy service.

    At Advocacy Focus, we have a vast experience of helping to give support and understanding and practical support to those living with dementia, and their families. We have 12 trained dementia friends and are in the process of training up a further 6 team members.

    Dementia is set to be the 21st century’s biggest killer. But awareness and understanding remains low and many families are facing it alone.

    To play our part the awareness week, we thought we would share how we help people living with dementia through our highly skilled advocacy service.

    At Advocacy Focus, we have a vast experience of helping to give support and understanding and practical support to those living with dementia, and their families. We have 12 trained dementia friends and are in the process of training up a further 6 team members.

    How Advocacy helped Leonard*

    Our Independent Advocate Becci recently acted as a Paid Relevant Persons Representative (RPR) for an individual who was living in a care home with no friends or family.

    Unfortunately, the Leonard was unhappy with being in the care home and would often pack his belongings and sit by the front door for long periods. 

    Becci visited him every month and, as a result of working with the client over a period of time and building up a relationship, it was discovered that the client was not happy in the care home due to not being able to go out, and there being a lot of noise coming from the resident in the room next to him, meaning he could not sleep. 

    Taking the time to listen to Leonard’s concerns meant that we could then help to address the specific concerns.

    As is our duty as the person’s representative, we take our role very seriously and we worked closely with the care home staff and the person’s Legal Power of Attorney and as a result, he has been able to visit shops in the local area, garden centres, go for walks along the lake and go to the pub. 

    We also raised Leonard’s concerns around the noise at night to staff in the care home and he was offered an alternative room in a quieter area of the home which he accepted. 

    Leonard is now very happy in the care home, is able to maintain access to the local community, and feels his new room is “top notch”. This is just one example of how we can help people, even those living with dementia to have a better quality of life and achieve the things that matter to them.

    To find out about how Advocacy can help you or someone you know, phone 0300 323 0965 or email admin@advocacyfocus.org.uk

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