What is advocacy?
"Advocacy is taking action to support people or equip them to say what they want, understand and secure their rights, represent their interests and access services they need.
Advocacy empowers people to maximise their independence and achieve greater control over their lives by making sure they have exact, right and enough information to make their own choices.
Advocacy promotes social inclusion, equality and social justice.
Advocacy is structurally independent from statutory organisations."
This definition of advocacy is based on the description by Action for Advocacy - a national umbrella organisation for all advocacy services.
Advocacy services
Several different advocacy services are available. Professional advocacy services for various groups of social care customers are complemented by self-advocacy and peer advocacy groups.
In addition, various local organisations offer advice, information and support services – please search the Wokingham Information Network for organisations and services.
Action 4 Advocacy is an umbrella organisation for all advocacy services. Advocacy services supported by Wokingham Borough Council adhere to the Action 4 Advocacy’s Quality Standards and Code of Practice. Please see the Action 4 Advocacy website for more information.
Professional and self-advocacy
There are serveral professional and self-advocacy services available to social care customers:
Peer advocacy
There are several partnership boards for social care customers and carers offering peer advocacy to their members:
