Advocacy

This supports individuals and carers to engage with services in the public, private and voluntary sector in situations not covered by specific legislation but where there is a need for an independent advocate. Generic Community Advocacy can be delivered in a range of ways including one to one support, peer advocacy and self-advocacy. The service will meet the varied and diverse needs of the borough of Slough:

• adults with learning disabilities, mental health, physical disability, autism, sensory impairments
• young people in transition
• older people
• carers
• substance misuse
• HIV/AIDS
• people whose first language is not English.

There are two programmes:

• Peer Advocacy - offering support for individuals who are gaining confidence and knowledge to support each other with shared issues, challenges or goals. There is a detailed Peer Advocacy Guide, also in Easy Read, which helps to guide and facilitate groups, enabling individuals to learn skills to support and advocate for each other on issues important to them.
• Self-Advocacy - offering support for individuals who have gained greater understanding and confidence to advocate for themselves. There is a detailed Self Advocacy Guide, also in Easy Read, which helps to guide individuals to speak out for themselves.

Find toolkits about advocacy on the Advocacy in Slough website.