About Connected Voice Advocacy

Our wide range of services promote social inclusion, equality and social justice. They have enabled us to meet the diverse and complex needs of people in vulnerable circumstances across the region.

“I feel like I’ve gone from having nobody to having an army of guardian angels! Incredible”

Our impact
 

Hearing your views on our Advocacy service helps us shape what we do. We will ask you and anyone else involved in your case what they thought of the Advocacy experience. We do this via a simple survey asking if you would recommend our service to others. This is known as the Net Promoter Score.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty and satisfaction measurement taken from asking people how likely they are to recommend our service to family, friends and others on a scale of 0-10. It's a short, simple survey that gauges customer enthusiasm, loyalty and satisfaction. Scores above 50% are considered good, while scores above 70% are considered excellent.

Last year we:

• Employed 16 people including 12 advocates, 2 senior advocates, 1 Operations Officer and 1 administrative apprentice
• Worked in over 35 ethnically marginalised communities across 29 languages, and employed 2 bilingual advocates
• Delivered 3 Self Advocacy toolkit sessions and 2 Service User Engagement focus groups

Last year our team of advocates:

• Supported 21 people who had safeguarding alerts or concerns raised about them
• Supported 77 people to take challenges to the Court of Protection to review restrictions causing their deprivation of liberty e.g. where they lived
• Provided Hate Crime Advocacy to 100 victims
• Supported 23 people victimised by Hate Relationships
   

It’s a Win-win: Watch our film which tells you more about advocacy. We met with Service-users, referrers, commissioners and Advocates to talk about the importance of advocacy and making our services accessible to everyone.

Our award-winning services

We were delighted to be presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Equality and Diversity Award at the 2023 National Advocacy Awards, organised by Black Belt Advocacy, who are working tirelessly to champion Advocacy across the UK. This builds on the success of our 2018 and 2022 National Advocacy Awards for Outstanding Advocacy Service (detailed below), and we want to thank everyone who has contributed to us receiving this respected recognition.

The judges felt that our Advocacy service demonstrated a strong approach to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and was particularly successful in nurturing positive relationships with funders that encouraged positive risk-taking and innovation. Of Connected Voice, the judges said: "their work was thoughtful in how to target groups in the community that need Advocacy support. This included targeted recruitment for a more diverse workforce, support for disabled and neuro-divergent employees, and nurturing a diverse board of trustees that oversee an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion framework where each team (including Advocacy) is held to account to demonstrate performance measures."

We have been honoured to receive the ‘Outstanding Service’ award at the National Advocacy Awards in 2018 and again in 2022. The category aims to ‘showcase the very best in service delivery’ with ‘creative and innovative ways that services are evolving their support’. In 2022 we were nominated by Gateshead Council for our safeguarding work to protect people from harm and abuse and Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner for our Hate Crime Advocacy service. The competition was very close each time as there are so many great services across the country. We are proud to have received the awards from our industry peers in recognition of our hard work and impact through advocacy.  We would like to thank our staff, volunteers, partners and funders who have all helped to make this possible.

Quality Performance Mark (QPM)
 

The Advocacy Quality Performance Mark is the UK’s only independent quality standard for organisations offering independent advocacy. It involves a rigorous assessment process and provides a robust benchmark for commissioners to measure independent advocacy services, ensuring they select the very best providers. We have been awarded successive QPMs since 2005 and are delighted to have been re-awarded for a further three years to February 2028.

Our Head of Advocacy Jane Kingston has said the following about our recent re-awarding of the QPM:

"The QPM audit provides an opportunity to reflect on practice and procedures and hear what matters from people who use and commission our services. We value the chance to review our service with experienced assessors who understand the challenges that the advocacy sector is facing. The QPM enables small advocacy organisations like ours to demonstrate our worth and communicate our quality. The framework of the Advocacy Charter ensures consistency and clarity on how to deliver good advocacy. We offer thanks to Kathy and the QPM team for spending time with our advocates, trustees and stakeholders to get to know what we do and how we do it. It's a joy to read that the systems we have in place are effective, as we strive for continued excellence and respond to all feedback.

"We are absolutely delighted to read such a glowing report from our assessor. Delivering quality service really matters to us and is one of our six strategic objectives. To read the positive comments from staff, commissioners and people who have accessed advocacy is validation for the hard work shown across our team over the last three years.

"As Head of Advocacy at Connected Voice, I am regularly reminded of the dedication and passion our skilled team of advocates devote every day. The audit has focused on how values drive our work - we are supported well by a board of trustees that understand advocacy and our mission, and this has helped to fund and steer some of our recent work to meaningfully engage people who use advocacy services. It was good to read that this was a key observation in the audit, and this is something we aim to build on.

"Our service has adapted and evolved over the last three years in response to changes in commissioning. We have been involved in new partnerships and research, and have developed new ways to diversify income. As service leader, I am proud to see that the changes we have made have been positive and enabled us to be responsive to our communities. The audit commends us for our ability to adapt and change to ensure a sustainable model of delivery and, in turn, our ongoing success.

"The audit also highlights our community responsiveness. During this period, we have seen communities suffer from reductions in community-based support, increases in isolation and poverty, and increased civil unrest and extreme politics. Our role has become more relevant and important in giving a voice to those who feel marginalised or victimised, and to campaign for change in our localities. 

"We have prioritised time for local and national research over the last three years to make sure people feel visible and that their issues are addressed. Developing strong partnerships with universities to analyse case work and facilitate workshops to capture the voices of older people in safeguarding and victims of hate has been worthwhile. We couldn't do the work we do without the strong partnerships we have developed across the VCSE and with statutory services, and without the understanding we have developed with local authorities, the NHS, the Ombudsman, and many more.

"As a leadership team, we appreciate the daily struggles that advocates face in the health, social and criminal justice sectors, and have devoted time and resources into a thoughtful employee support package with a focus on team development. In a time when advocacy is known nationally for poor terms and conditions and disparity amongst other sectors, we feel particularly proud that the audit shows positive feedback from our team who feel pride in their roles and feel supported at Connected Voice. 

"Everyone in both our frontline and office teams will feel proud to read this report, and hopefully recognise their contribution to it. A heartfelt thanks to all who are involved in making this service what it is."

Here at Connected Voice, we pride ourselves on our award-winning services and achieving recognised quality standards so we can be the best possible employer. See our organisation-wide awards and accreditation

Commissioner’s Quality Assessment

Our Gateshead Statutory Advocacy Services (IMHA, IMCA, ICAA and RPR) were assessed over two days in January 2019 by the commissioner, Gateshead Council. We achieved a 100% score against these outcomes:

• People benefit from person centred care & support
• People are safeguarded from abuse
• People are supported by excellent staff
• Organisational and management systems ensure excellent quality services
• People benefit from excellent security, health and safety

Our principles

Upholding rights and valuing voices: Advocacy principles for coronavirus and beyond have been developed by advocacy providers, for advocacy providers. We know from our experiences of delivering advocacy that people who use health and social care services are being specifically disadvantaged by the coronavirus restrictions we have all faced. The principles are designed to shape our collective responses and make sure that no-one who needs our support is left out, that people’s rights are respected, and nobody goes unheard.

Our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Statement of Intent on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) to encourage advocacy organisations to improve the lives of those who are not treated equitably and to call for positive action to make sure that structural inequalities and discrimination are removed. We join our colleagues across the advocacy sector in committing to making radical changes to the current reality of those who face discrimination, identifying four key areas to make a difference:

• Improving our relevance to the communities we serve
• Challenging discrimination in all its forms
• Delivering systemic change
• Improving our employment, leadership and governance practice >

At Connected Voice we are committed to embedding equity, diversity and inclusion in all our strategies, activities and decisions.  Our robust EDI Policy and Action Plan (which is coordinated by our EDI Group and overseen by the Board of Trustees) complement the Leaders in Advocacy Statement of Intent.  We put policy into practice and review our progress on EDI actions in each team meeting. We aim to create and promote a culture that will support trustees, staff and volunteers to feel empowered, knowledgeable and able to administer our EDI policy in all our interactions with users of our services, referrers, partners and stakeholders. We will promote equity, diversity and inclusion and will take steps to challenge discrimination, harassment and victimisation in everything we do.

Our advocacy models

Connected Voice Advocacy engages in both Instructed and Non-Instructed advocacy. Advocates support people to make their own decisions (instructed) and also put forward their views for substituted decision making processes (non- instructed).

Instructed advocacy

We work ‘should to shoulder’ with people. Advocates take instruction on what they want them to do and say. People give consent to engage in a partnership with an advocate and lead the relationship with their instructions. Advocates are independent of service providers and therefore represent their views, or challenge decisions. 

Non-instructed advocacy

When someone is unable to instruct then an advocate will take affirmative action with or on behalf of a person who is unable to give a clear indication of their views or wishes in a specific situation. The advocate will establish what level of understanding the person has, and find ways to improve their engagement. This may include using communication aids, tools and personalised help such as pictures, talking mats, Makaton, and gestures.  The advocate will consult those who are close to the person to find out how they prefer to communicate and what is important to them. 

Watching Brief

Advocates use communication aids and investigation skills to build up a picture of the person’s life before they were unable to express themselves or make decisions. They consult with care providers and people around them.  They take a rights based approach and ensure that even if the person cannot speak up for their own rights that they are still upheld.  The advocate will safeguard the person and their rights, and ensure that the care their receive meets the National Care Standards and legislation that protects vulnerable people such as Mental Capacity Act, Care Act, Human Rights Act and Equalities Act. The watching brief approach follows the eight domains to a quality life  which include asking around Competence/Skills , Community Presence, Continuity, Choice & Influence, Individuality, Status & Respect, Relationships, Wellbeing. 

Supported Decision Making

Some people are unable to give instruction or make decisions, even after all attempts to help. In this situation they would be assessed as lacking the mental capacity to make a specific decision at a specific time. Then an Independent Advocate will assist the Best Interest decision making process by providing a through report detailing the views and wishes of the person. The advocate will take in to account all the person’s past decisions, values, beliefs, behaviours to build a picture of how the person may have made this decision.  Advocates do not make decisions but play a crucial role in the decision making process. They ensure that the decision making is compatible with the Mental Capacity Act and the Best Interest Framework. They produce reports to share with the decision maker that show what the person would have chosen if they were able, and they challenge when a decision does not match this, or isn’t the least restrictive option available.

Our history

Our Advocacy project was first set up in 1996 to support people, help them to be heard and secure their rights. As well as supporting people through our advocacy services, we also help to achieve positive change at a local, regional and national level by informing and influencing decision-makers in policy, service commissioning and service provision.

We are respected regionally and nationally as an advocacy leader, playing key roles in setting up local and national advocacy networks, drawing up the Advocacy Charter, the Code of Practice for Advocates and Advocacy Principles. We have provided evidence to numerous consultations about legislative reform. We have responded to developments in advocacy and to the introduction of new legislation e.g. providing statutory advocacy under the Mental Health, Mental Capacity and Care Acts

We have been at the forefront of innovation and digital inclusion, developing our self-advocacy tool, the DIYAdvocate^® app and setting up unique specialist services such as advocacy for people with neurological conditions and those from ethnically minoritised communities.

We have been involved in cutting edge research, including working with Durham and Northumbria Universities on their new concept of 'Hate Relationships'.  Read their report Exploring ‘hate relationships’ through Connected Voice’s Hate Crime Advocacy Service

We have built strong partnerships across the advocacy, VCSE and health and social care sectors including delivering the Families Through Crisis project together with NE Law Centre and Changing Lives and developing Brain Injury Advocacy with Headway.

We have made a collection of films together with people we work with, referrers and commissioners to explain what advocacy is, how we support the people we work with and what difference it makes:

• It’s a Win-win: we met with people we work with, referrers, commissioners and Advocates to talk about the importance of advocacy and making our services accessible to everyone.
• Voices of Advocacy: shows how important advocacy is and how our team of Advocates' can support you through your journey. 
• Fighting For Your Rights: made by people we work with about our advocacy support. 
• Hate relationships: New understandings of hate crime: victim/survivors talk about their experiences of hate relationships, the impact on them and the difference support from our Hate Crime Advocacy service has made

Learn more about Connected Voice Advocacy's history from our timeline and the history of Connected Voice in Our Story

You can download an alternative text version of the timeline below