My Story
Hear from people who have used our services...
Without the support of my advocate I would never have pulled through. They helped me to weigh up carefully all my options and then, together, we discussed any decision I had to make.
The advocate listened to me and assisted me to make the appointments I needed with a solicitor and social services. My advocate helped me to visit a solicitor and I began to regain control of my affairs again.
Janet
I have a number of health problems and was finding it increasingly difficult to get around in my home and stay independent. If I was going to stay living at home then I needed to have some aids and adaptations to help me. I soon found out that getting the funding for these and then having any work done was far from easy. Things seemed to go from bad to worse and I could see no end to the struggle and the situation I was in. No one really listened to me and any promises I had been made by other organisations never materialised. The situation became intolerable and began to impact on my health.
Without the support of my advocate I would never have pulled through. They helped me to weigh up carefully all my options and then, together, we discussed any decision I had to make. Things slowly started to improve and the situation is now pretty much resolved, but it was not always straightforward. When things did not go to plan we laughed about it first then carried on with our mission. Before I had an advocate I found every set- back very difficult to deal with and would never have seen the funny side.
Advocacy has been like a whirlpool; we started to deal with the situation in hand and as my confidence grew it impacted on other aspects of my life, like relationships and family issues. It has made me feel strong enough to become extensively involved in the running of another organisation. I have really learnt from having the support of an advocate and constantly promote the benefits of advocacy to others.
Helen
I was very unhappy about being placed in a residential home away from my home area. Even though the staff were lovely, I wanted to get back home. My son seemed to have taken over my affairs and would refuse to listen to what I wanted. He thought I was incapable. The advocate listened to me and assisted me to make the appointments I needed with a solicitor and social services. My advocate helped me to visit a solicitor and I began to regain control of my affairs again.
My son never thought I would manage to return to my home area without his help and I was so worried and upset that this would be the case. After advocacy got involved I started to sleep properly again. My advocate helped me to get in touch with the right people. I am now back in my home and have been referred to the local advocacy service there. They will be out to visit me a few weeks.
I am so happy that I have managed to come back home and I am able to see my family and friends again. I really do not think I would have managed it without the support of my advocate.