I had never heard of advocacy before I saw the role advertised. Speaking up for children was something that sounded great. I stick up for myself a lot now days, but I can remember as a child I was very shy and worried that I might be saying the wrong thing.
What most surprised me about the role was how many children in care and care leavers need advocates. The numbers of young people who are homeless for example is shocking.
Talking to young people who are in or have been through the care system has to be done very sensitively because they may have been let down in the past. Listening to what they say, and also how they say it, helps us to understand how they feel, not just what they think.
They feel relieved that we have actually heard how they are feeling and that’s half the job. I have had to persuade some of them that it might be worth the risk of trying us out for help. I acknowledge their bravery when they do so.
My proudest moments are when a local authority take a safeguarding alert seriously, and as a result a young person gets somewhere safe to live. I am proud of the whole safeguarding system at Coram Voice – for example, if a local authority hasn’t replied to us within 48 hours, we chase them up, we keep in touch with the young person, we give them advice about how to keep safe in the meantime, and hold them as much as we can. We keep letting them know everything that we are doing to help them, and what the reply from social services has been.
My big ambition is that advocacy and advocates become better known to both young people and referring adults so that they know who to call and how we can help.