Family & Friends Focus

What is Family & Friends Focus?

It’s quite simple – we are on a mission to support people who need a bit of help when it comes to speaking up for themselves, or for their loved ones. We know, because you have told us, that so many people struggle to advocate for themselves or others. We also know that people just need a little bit of help to understand the issues they are facing and make sense of things.

So, we’ve improved our support for people who have the toughest job of all – standing up for the people they love. Family & Friends still has a focus on health and social care, but if you can advocate for your care and treatment, you will be able to tackle most things you may face.

To help you advocate for yourself or others, we have made a range of tools, resources, and webinars. We hope they will boost your confidence, build on your current knowledge, and give you the help you need. We are here to help you understand the law, your rights, what to expect in important meetings and to be your guide through challenging times.

We can also offer some one-to-one support for when you really need it.

How It Can Help 

• Information:  

We can guide you through such things as health and social care meetings and help you understand what may happen via our ‘How To’ guides. You may be someone’s Relevant Persons Representative (RPR) or their Nearest Relative and want to know more about your role. We have the tools to help you.

• Advocacy:  

We will help you understand the role of advocacy and advocating for others and why it is important for people to feel listened to and central to any decisions being made.

• Rights and safeguarding:  

We will explain the different rights people have under law, tell you about safeguarding procedures and what to do if you are worried about someone.

• Training:  

We will train you to become unpaid advocates for the people you care for, and you can become an Advocacy Friend. Click here to find out more   

Extra help:  

When you have tried, but still need some extra support, we can give you 1-1 telephone support, or we can meet with you and give you the help you need.

Family & Friends Focus is extra support for people in Lancashire. It will help anyone to build the knowledge and skills they need to be amazing advocates for the people they care about. Family & Friends is all about building a stronger, informed, and resilient Lancashire community. It is ‘Looking After Lancashire’ where we can all play our part.

If you have any questions or have any suggestions for resources or want to give us feedback, get in touch at admin@advocacyfocus.org.uk