Advocacy For All

Advocacy for All is a locally rooted advocacy organisation with a strong history, that exists to give people a voice through one to one advocacy and self-advocacy groups. We believe that Bigger Voices = Better Lives. Our approach is person-centred, empowering and rights focused. We place a strong value on supporting people to be as independent as possible. We believe that being fair, valuing diversity and involving people are extremely important. We operate services across the South East of England, including in Greater London and Kent & Medway.

The quality of our services is important to us and we work hard to make sure that our organisation is the best that it can be. We have professional staff and volunteers who are approachable, friendly and caring, passionate and inclusive. We work with vulnerable people to give them bigger voices so that they can have better lives. Our funding comes from a variety of Local Authority contracts, external grants and donations. We believe in support that is free-to-access.

Our work in suicide prevention

As an independent advocacy organisation, Advocacy For All supports individuals to have their voices heard. The majority of our work is with vulnerable adults and neurodivergent populations, promoting independence and enabling access to/understanding of appropriate support for those from minority health groups..

We have a strong commitment to safeguarding the health of those we work with. This includes building services and training staff to be aware of the risks of suicide and self-harm. We aim to provide a safe space for these topics to be discussed and managed effectively.

In Kent and Medway, we run the Touch Base Project as part of our South East Autism Support (SEAS) Programme. Touch Base offers six weeks of 1-to-1 self-advocacy support for adults living in Kent and Medway who have a diagnosis of, or are awaiting assessment for, autism or Asperger’s. This goal-led approach encourages members to work with an advocate to develop confidence in communicating their needs and preferences, as well as promoting awareness of suitable community and clinical support options.

Our motivation for joining the NSPA

We believe that community is formed through communication. Our work encourages our members to communicate for themselves. The NSPA provides a recognition of the importance of talking about suicide as a reality – something that a number of our members have encountered but have reported struggling to speak about. Through being a part of the ongoing conversations about suicide prevention, we hope to enable greater awareness of our members’ needs and to give more opportunity for the voices of those with lived experience to be included in building sustainable community services.

Our areas of expertise

Our work varies by geographical region and local provision. In some areas, we offer statutory Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA), Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA), NHS Complaints Advocacy, Care Act Advocacy, General Advocacy and other forms of direct, representational advice. In other regions, we offer self-advocacy services for specific demographics such as adults with learning disabilities or autistic adults. Please see our website for more details.

As advocates we believe that services should be as accessible as possible to all members of society. As well as supporting individuals with lived experience to make progress in their individual journeys, we also want to support services and professionals to understand the importance and efficacy of making reasonable adjustments in their work.