My motivation and passion for supporting vulnerable young people mostly stems from my own experiences as a child and young person, wanting to be the support I wish I had when I needed it.
Being an advocate is a unique role. You are truly led by the young person you work with. I was also really excited to be in a role where I would learn more about the law and use this to empower young. I felt like this could contribute to lasting change for young people. Too often they are simply not told these things or not given the opportunity to be heard and their voices valued.
One of the things I found really surprising about the role was what ‘young-person led’ practice actually looks like. I feel like this term is often used in youth services, but advocacy really is controlled by the young person. You only work on their instructions or on their wishes and feelings.
As an advocate you need to be completely impartial, non-judgemental and follow a young person’s wishes, even if they are making a decision that you wouldn’t expect them to make. This can be challenging, at least at first. But I’ve also found it to be really liberating, to see a young person value the fact that their thoughts and opinions are valid.
One of the first young people I worked with had been in care then returned home, but had to leave again for her own safety. She wanted support to leave her unsuitable emergency accommodation and find a permanent, safe place to live. I supported her, explaining her rights and entitlements as well as accessing legal advice.
Afterwards she came to see me and gave me a card that said “Because of you and your advocacy I was lucky enough to get a permanent home and can finally start a new life”. This really put things into perspective for me. It made me realise that advocacy can make the world of a difference for young people.
The main practical impact of advocacy is increased confidence in the young people. In many cases they have this confidence already but can struggle when communicating with professionals or trying to find the information they need.
I had never really heard of advocacy before working for Coram Voice which I find really shocking, especially considering the groups of vulnerable people that have a legal right to access this support. I would love to see more information readily available about advocacy I would love to see more campaigning, training and learning about how advocates work.