Angel Advocates in Cumbria
Angel Advocates was set up in 2023 by Paula Ward who saw the need for an Advocacy service in Cumbria like the one she had volunteered for in Scotland when studying for her law degree. So many people when dealing with authorities feel they don’t have a voice and aren’t heard. Not all are listened to or treated equitably and Angel Advocates are there to listen to people and help share their view to others. Angel Advocates are independent, they are there for the client which empowers the client, someone is there for them, to stand with them. It can be hard for people to understand the work, but Paula describes it like this: imagine a time you had to go into a room and face an unknown panel of people and what a difference it would have made to have someone stand next to you saying ‘we are in this together.’
All those involved in the organisation have a Christian faith and this informs and shapes the development of Angel Advocates, it’s missional in that just as Christ left us an advocate in the Holy Spirit, we too should offer this gift of advocacy to others. Funding is challenging and the demand on the small team for their services mean they often have to prioritise the most urgent cases. If you’d like to find out more about the work of Angel Advocates visit their website angeladvocates.co.uk. They would particularly like to hear from anyone who’d be interested in being a Trustee. Please contact them through their website for more information angeladvocates.co.uk.
Below you can read a case study of Angel Advocates work.
Case Study
Ian’s husband referred him to us out of frustration with mental health services who were discharging him for the third time due to non-engagement. Ian is in his thirties and had been under mental health services on and off for most of his life, starting in childhood. He had recently tried to end his life. All he hoped for was a different medication. He was scared to leave his house and had a list of mental health diagnoses.
When our advocate attended they were able to reappoint the meeting with CMHT and arrange to accompany Ian. Our advocate listened to Ian in that first meeting and asked at the end if he had ever considered being assessed for neuro-diversity. He hadn’t but thought it was funny because throughout his life people had suggested he might be autistic.
Over the course of some months our advocate supported Ian to get his assessment and he is neuro-diverse. They also encouraged Ian to see a world beyond his front door, they asked him about his hopes and dreams. In the summer they set up an appointment for Ian to go and have a look around the university and talk to a course leader. The advocate then helped Ian with his UCAS application and exploring funding.
18 months on, Ian is in university on the course of his dreams and excelling. He is still learning to navigate what it is to be neuro-sparkly, as he calls it, but he describes how he has found his tribe. He is no longer taking anti-psychotic medication and is looking forward to a future in computing as opposed to no future at all.