Skye & Lochalsh
This has been a busy year for the project in Skye & Lochalsh, with five people having completed their training in Portree and another three attending joint training in Dingwall.
Our diverse team of eight volunteers have provided an excellent service, supporting people to have their voices heard over a wide range of issues. The advocacy work has often been challenging and sometimes done at very short notice! The sense of reward volunteers report experiencing reflects the hard work they have put in, many thanks to all for this.
Our volunteers have participated in ongoing training including “Understanding Mental Health”. Delivered by the local mental health association as an introduction for front line workers, this course also provided the volunteers with the opportunity to meet people from other local groups such as carers and support workers. Meeting other Advocacy Highland volunteers and staff in Inverness at training courses concerned with human rights and communication has been of benefit too; networking, sharing information and putting names to faces helps our feeling of belonging and the training has given us valuable tools to carry out our advocacy work.
Joint working with service providers such as Care & Repair, Community Psychiatric Nurses, Mental Health Officers, Daycare and Drop in Centres has helped people to benefit from the working of the new Mental Health Act as well as showing how advocacy can help the professionals ensure that people are involved in their own care and treatment. Meetings with GP’s practice teams are planned, to continue spreading the word!
Advocacy Highland has also been involved in the Local Implementation Group (LIG) which has been concerned with setting up and putting into action a plan for local services based on local need, with advocacy seen as a way to help service users engage with providers in a meaningful way. We’re all working to help the same vulnerable people and this group has helped us all focus on our common agenda.
The profile of advocacy continues to be raised in the area with talks given to the Scottish Women’s Rural Institute and to people attending “Options and Choices”, a training course run by the Learning Centre in Portree. These talks were well received and generated interest from potential new volunteers