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In this section you can learn more about who can be an advocate and how you can help someone to overcome social isolation. You can also find out more about our organisation.

Ordinary members of the community, like you

To be an 'advocate' you don't need any qualifications. People from all walks of life can get involved. One of the most important things about this is getting to know the person. This is important for the following reason.

When most of us need somebody to speak up for us, we might go to a solicitor. Most of us can tell a solicitor exactly what we want them to do for us. Some people with learning difficulties, though, may find it difficult to do this - for instance, if they have problems with communication due to low self-esteem. For somebody to really understand what that person wants, they have to take the time to get to know them. Getting to know someone also often leads to friendship.

By doing this, advocates can help their 'partner' make choices about how they lead their lives. They can help to express their partner's views in meetings, or generally with other people. They can also make sure workers paid to help that person are doing their jobs properly.

Breaking out of the vicious circle

Most people with learning difficulties can speak up for themselves. However, some are unlucky - they are isolated and vulnerable.

Social isolation can become a vicious circle. Someone in this situation may be seen as different, or apart. People will take less time to get to know them, so they become even more socially isolated through no fault of their own. This is especially true if you are seen as 'different' in the first place, as people with learning difficulties often are. The truth is, though, that people with learning difficulties just want the same chances in life that the rest of us do.

Some people with learning difficulties are so socially isolated that the only people they see are workers - people who are paid to 'care' for them. This has an effect on their self-esteem. In fact, it may make their self-esteem so low that, even if they are capable of saying what they want, they are too frightened to.

In many cases, the 'advocate' - as someone who is not paid to be there - can help their 'partner' to feel better about him- or herself. This in turn helps them to speak up for what they want.

It is obviously important that an advocate should never take action without asking their partner first. The only way to raise a person's self esteem is to make sure they get what they want, not what somebody else thinks is best for them!

It's not unusual for partners to become part of a wider social network through their advocate. Advocates can introduce their partner to the people they know. They can also help them in using ordinary facilities in the community, like post offices, shops, and so on. This helps them to break out of the vicious circle.

A little bit more about Person to Person

Person to Person is an organisation set up to benefit adults with learning difficulties, who have no supportive relationships. They may be socially isolated, and have few of the chances in life that most of us take for granted.

Sometimes they are being ill-treated or abused, or are in life-threatening situations. We help 'advocates' to speak up for them.

Some of the 'partners' have been or will be resettled from a long-stay hospital into the community. Many of them have lost, or never had, the skills needed to live in the community.
Person to Person, like most charities, is managed by a committee of volunteers. Many of them are 'advocates' themselves. They manage paid workers, called co-ordinators, who help to set up and support partnerships.

Although we have a 'code for advocates' to help you in what you are doing, partnerships are entirely independent of the organisation. After all, a friendship cannot be managed by a committee! However, an advocate should always remember that they speak up for the views of the person with learning difficulties, not their own.

© Person to Person