Advocacy

We help people with learning disabilities to represent their views during change or crisis.

Grapevine Advocates help people who: 

• want to have their voice heard but find it hard to speak up for themselves
• want their rights to be respected and to get what they are entitled to
• need support with an issue such as making a complaint or appeal, moving house, vulnerable adult protection procedures or formal review meetings.

These are just examples. Whenever someone wants to have their voice heard, a professional Grapevine Advocate can help in a focused, short-term partnership. But we do that with a difference.

We know that people with learning disabilities have skills and abilities and can be very resourceful. So, at Grapevine we are interested in people as individuals. We want to know about the life they've led, the life they want to lead and the people who can help.

People can also get longer-term help from Grapevine's Citizen Advocates to build networks that can provide long-term support. Commissioners who pay for Grapevine's task advocacy get added value: people are less likely to have a repeated need for advocacy.

Grapevine's Advocates are independent: their first loyalty is to their advocacy partner. At the same time Grapevine Advocates are not adversarial. We want to resolve problems at the lowest level and work in partnership with other agencies.

Kerry and Rachel's story 

Kerry and Rachel are sisters. When their mother died in a hospice, they were left with multiple problems. There were rent arrears and hire purchase debts. The house was squalid because of two large dogs that didn't go out and pet birds that flew free. The house hadn't been cleaned - maybe for years. They needed to support their grandmother and neighbours were harassing them.

Grapevine arranged a meeting with Kerry and Rachel, their Housing Association, social worker, local neighbourhood wardens and support provider. We dealt with the debtors and housing association and got some of the debts cancelled. Rachel and Kerry were offered a new home.

Then their grandmother died. Our advocate visited every week and kept in close contact with other agencies to make sure that Kerry and Rachel didn't get into arrears or other problems. One of the sisters now has a volunteer advocacy partner to support her.

Rachel and Kerry are starting to live life again.