Partners In Advocacy

Partners In Advocacy

For many years My Wife Susan has worked with the Dundee Partners In Advocacy. The service is second to none, when I was working on the M.B.H.A. board of management I was shocked when just before a board meeting with the Margaret Blackwood Housing Association no-one had even heard of Partners in Advocacy even though the majority of tenants with the Margaret Blackwood Housing Association were disabled, it was even more shocking that the Margaret Blackwood Housing Association "Actually shared the same building as Partners In Advocacy for their headquarters in Edinburgh and had done for some years!" I was glad to bring the two together as it can only be to the benefit to all. It was with this in mind when my wife Susan and I were invited to the Partners In Advocacy opening of the new offices party, I asked for the privilege to interview the coordinator Joyce McQuilken. I hope I can help someone who may benefit from or knows someone who may benefit from reading this article who may not know that Partners In Advocacy exists, and help to bring more awareness about this extremely valuable service:

Hello Joyce, Could you for the benefit of the people who don't know you tell us a little bit about yourself ?

Hi I've been a citizen advocacy co-coordinator at Partners in Advocacy , Dundee since February 2003. Before that I worked in Edinburgh , in various different jobs - but all involved working with people identified as having a learning disability. I originally come from Dundee , but my family moved to Edinburgh when I was 12 years old , and in fact the house I was brought up in is very close to Blackwood Court. Its nice to be back working in Dundee, although I now live in Rattray, by Blairgowrie.

Could you tell us how you got involved with Partners in Advocacy?

As I said , most of my working life I have worked alongside people with learning disabilities, and seen that others often don't take time to listen to them, and often they don't get a good deal in life because they don't have the confidence or the support to speak up for what they really want. I have always thought advocacy is important, so when the job was advertised - I decided I really wanted to give it a go, and was lucky enough to be offered the job.

For the benefit of the people who have never heard of Partners in Advocacy could you tell us a bit about your organisation and what it does?

Partners in Advocacy is an Independent Advocacy organisation. That means we do not provide any services for people, only advocacy, so we are not connected with Social Work or Health or any other organisation. We have a head office in Edinburgh, and projects in Glasgow, East, West and Midlothian and Dundee. Each project is funded to do something slightly different. In Dundee we mainly provide citizen advocacy for adults and children with learning disabilities. That means we recruit members of the public. We prepare them for the role, and make sure they are the right person for the job, then match them one to one with someone who has asked for help to speak up for themselves.

How long has Partners in Advocacy been in Dundee?

As an independent organisation since 1998, so that's 7 years at present. The project was originally part of The Barnardos Advocacy Service, but became independent of Barnardos in 1998.

When was Partners in Advocacy Founded ?

1998

Who may have an advocate from Partners in Advocacy?

Anyone who is identified as having a learning disability may ask to have an advocate. I meet with the person who wants an advocate to find out what their situation is. There are always lots more people wanting an advocate than there are advocates available, so people may have to wait for a while, depending on their situation, and my ability to find the right advocate for them. I do not do the advocacy myself, but recruit volunteers who want to become advocates. It takes quite a long time to recruit and prepare someone.

How many offices do you have?

Three, one in Edinburgh, one in Glasgow and one in Dundee.

Are Partners in Advocacy Constantly Recruiting or is it at different times of the year?

We tend to recruit constantly, which can be a lot of work, but its better having a few people at a time throughout the year, than a whole lot of people to train and match up at once.

Is age a consideration when applying for an advocate?

Not from Partners in Advocacy - as we work with children and adult , and we are very pleased to have just appointed a part time children's advocacy worker, who should start work in a month or so.

Is age a consideration for someone wishing to become an advocate?

At the moment we take people from 16 years old to become citizen advocates, but there may be some opportunities for younger people to get involved in group work sometime next year.

I would like to thank Joyce, Janette and all the staff and everyone there for their help and cooperation in helping with this interview and for the many lovely photo's which are all available to download free from our online photo album including the full newspaper article.

Partners in Advocacy Website

Article by Jim Stewart with special thanks to Joyce McQuilken

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