Qualifications in Independent Advocacy
You can book online today to secure one of many courses on your journey in becoming a qualified advocate.
To find out more about these modules and how to achieve a recognised qualification, please click the Modules tab below.
or please contact us on
01424 462003
or email
info@advocacytraining.org.uk
Key People
Tutors:
Sue Armstrong
Coming from a long teaching background, I became an advocate, working with clients who had used, or were using Mental Health Services in 2004 .I have worked for a user led and run organisation called Users Support Services in Northamptonshire for the past five years, both as a hands on advocate and latterly as the advocacy manager for both the IMCA and Mental Health contracts.
Our team has grown from two advocates in 2004 to a team of ten very committed advocates. I have been the co-ordinator of training at USS since 2005 and wrote and delivered a Mental Health Advocacy course that was accredited by Northampton University at 20 units BSc level. This gave me the confidence and interest to share my training knowledge and skills to a wider audience so I was delighted to be asked to join the Kate Mercer/SEAP training team.
Theresa Le Bas
Theresa has over 15 years experience of practicing as a mental health advocate supporting people in court or through legal or statutory interventions including child protection, challenging medical professionals, making formal complaints, attending ward rounds, Care Programme Approach meetings, Mental Health Review Tribunals and Managers Hearings. She provides ongoing support and supervision to mental health advocates, induction and support to new advocacy workers and support to student social work placements in advocacy schemes.
After working for a specialist housing association providing 24hour cover for people with severe mental health issues she set up and managed the first independent mental health advocacy service for people with mental health difficulties in Southampton. Theresa was also instrumental in the set up and as Chief Officer support of a regional network of advocacy schemes in Hampshire.
As a trainer Theresa has designed and delivered advocacy training to advocacy services across England and Wales, Borough councils and Universities. More recently Theresa has contributed to the development of qualifications in independent advocacy taking a lead role in the creation of IMHA training materials.
Nadia Bodle
Nadia has had first hand experience of being looked after by the local authority with direct experience of using advocacy services. She has chosen to use this experience positively by being involved in improving services provided for children and young people.
Alongside completing her FdA in Graphic Communication at Brighton University, she has been involved in many aspects if SEAP's work. Nadia has been to numerous conferences giving keynote speeches; sat on recruitment panels; and has even been filmed for Teachers TV.
Nadia has been delivering training for over five years now. She takes a lead role in preparing and delivering Total Respect training, has delivered both basic advocacy for children & young people and the accredited training for advocacy.
Nadia is currently employed by SEAP as a youth participation worker for the Xpress Project.
Ellen Cocks
Ellen has worked within the health and social care field for over 14 years in both the statutory and voluntary sectors. She has substantial experience of providing, developing and managing advocacy services including ICAS and IMCA as well as advocacy for a range of specialist client groups such as MH, LD, Children and Young People.
As a trainer Ellen has delivered training in basic advocacy, advocating for clients with learning disabilities and has delivered a number of IMCA training sessions to health and social care professionals.
Val Ford
Val is an experienced specialist advocate working for South of England Advocacy Projects (SEAP). Her specialist knowledge of communication difficulties comes from an early career teaching in a speech and language school for children and young people with additional needs.
Val went onto work for the Autistic Society where she developed and supported person centered plans for young people going through transition into adult community placements.
The contact with social care, education and health services left Val passionate about the need for voicing individual choice and bought her to advocacy.
Since joining SEAP Val has worked across a wide and varied client base including mental health advocacy for young people and adults, both in the community and detained and forensic settings, including taking on the new IMHA role.
More recently Val has taken her extensive advocacy experience to the tutor role, and is now involved in advocacy training to staff and externally to outside organisations.
Chris George
Chris joined Loud and Clear as Director in January 2004. He has managed a number of advocacy projects working with vulnerable people for over twelve years and has a Diploma in Voluntary Sector Management from the Centre for Charity Effectiveness at City University Business School. Chris has written regularly on mental health issues for a range of journals and websites. Chris is a trustee of Brent Mind, a member of the CSCI Mental Health Improvement Board and a member for the CSIP Expert Reference Group on Advocacy. Current academic work involves studying for an MA in Health Care Law at the University of Salford Law School.
Neil Mapes
Neil is currently the Co-ordinator of the Mental Capacity Advocacy Project (MCAP) with Age Concern England, an innovative Volunteer Advocacy project working with the older people who lack Mental Capacity. The MCAP has been highlighted as an example of good practice by a variety of organisations and in a number of national reports and publications. Whilst with Age Concern Neil has played a vital role in commissioning multi-media research into the social exclusion of older people who lack mental capacity, produced by the Rix centre. He has also led a team of Age Concern colleagues working in partnership with City & Guilds to jointly launch the first national qualifications specifically focused on older people’s mental health called “Promoting the mental health and well being of older people".
Neil has a background in Clinical Psychology and has volunteered and worked in a wide variety of health and social care positions over the last 14 years. Neil spent 6 years as a dementia advocate for Alzheimer’s Concern Ealing (ACE) and whilst there he established one of the first Alzheimer Cafes in the country called ‘An ACE Night Out,’ in addition he also established a successful specialist outreach service for younger people with dementia.
Neil has led training days, workshops, seminars and spoken nationally on a variety of topics including mental health, mental capacity, and dementia. He has also led adventure tours in the jungles and highlands of Guatemala.
Fiona Martin
Fiona has been working as a trainer and NVQ Assessor for the last 13 years in the voluntary and public sector. She has worked as a practitioner with clients, managed service delivery, developed staff in many settings and has enabled them to achieve national recognised qualifications.
She feels that the Qualification in Independent Advocacy is now essential within the advocacy setting for practitioners to consolidate their own knowledge and experience and gain professional recognition. Fiona has seen in practice that by developing staff via professional qualification routes and enabling staff to reflect on their own practice that this is key to improving as a practitioner and enhancing skills and ultimately improving service delivery to clients and the reputation of organisations who deliver services in the community.
Chris Noble
Chris has over 7 years experience of working in the voluntary sector, and specialised as a mental health project worker, helping people with severe and enduring mental health difficulties, including representing their interests at Tribunals. She has considerable experience of providing, developing and managing advocacy services with ICAS.
As a trainer Chris has delivered training in basic advocacy and advocacy refresher courses for new and experienced advocates.
Also - Kate Gledhill, Stacey Millward and Jon Wheeler
Assessors:
Kate Mercer
Kate is an established trainer in advocacy and has been responsible for the development and delivery of qualifications in independent advocacy and locally accredited training programmes in advocacy, peer advocacy, participation, children's rights, mental health and training the trainers.
Kate spent her early career working with looked after children in secure settings moving on to manage a residential children's home. She volunteers as an Independent Visitor and children's advocate.
Kate became a qualified assessor in 2002.
Fiona Martin
Fiona has been working as a trainer and NVQ Assessor for the last 13 years in the voluntary and public sector. She has worked as a practitioner with clients, managed service delivery, developed staff in many settings and has enabled them to achieve national recognised qualifications.
She feels that the Qualification in Independent Advocacy is now essential within the advocacy setting for practitioners to consolidate their own knowledge and experience and gain professional recognition. Fiona has seen in practice that by developing staff via professional qualification routes and enabling staff to reflect on their own practice that this is key to improving as a practitioner and enhancing skills and ultimately improving service delivery to clients and the reputation of organisations who deliver services in the community.
Anna Murphy
Anna has worked within the health and social care sector for over 10 years. She has substantial experience of providing, developing and managing advocacy services provided to people in a range of settings including secure services, community advocacy services, acute in-patient services and challenging behaviour services. Anna has recently led the development and implementation of the statutory IMCA service and provided mentoring support to other IMCA services.
As a trainer Anna has delivered training in advocacy, particularly mental health advocacy to a range of audiences including Government, Commissioners, Advocacy managers and advocates and university students. Anna has also contributed to the creation of the IMHA training materials and has delivered a number of IMCA training events.
Jane Menday
Jane Menday started working with young people by volunteering at a local youth club in Buckinghamshire, many years ago. In 1996 she was employed in a local children’s home and progressed to Assistant Head of Home, only leaving in 2005 due to the shift work not being conducive after the birth of her child.
Jane has since worked in the Care & Protection Team and Children in Care teams of Buckinghamshire County Council and in August 2006 took up post a Project Manager for the Children’s Rights, Advocacy and Independent Visitor service in Buckinghamshire. Since November 2008 Jane has been employed as the Training Development Officer for CROA and has found time to complete the A1 Assessor Qualification, in addition to her CROA responsibilities she is now an assessor for Kate Mercer Training.
Jane is a strong believer in young people’s right to independent advocacy.
Julia Savidge
Julia has seven years experience as an independent advocate previously working for a charity in Southampton as a volunteer providing citizen advocacy to clients with severe learning disabilities. Her background includes having sole responsibility for planning, implementing and providing advocacy within a private medium secure unit in Crawley, Surrey (2004 – 2006); which was described as ‘exceptional’ by the service manager.
She now works for two organisations providing Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA), Independent Mental Capacity Advocate (IMCA) and generioc advocacy support to a wide client base. In SEAP’s Portsmouth Advocacy Office Julia is responsible for providing advocacy support to community and hospital based clients with learning and physical disabilities, sensory impairment, acquired brain injury and mental illness. Julia also works in Portsmouth as an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate for clients who are eligible under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
Her other role is the principle Independent Mental Health Advocacy for clients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in a regional NHS medium secure forensic unit.
Molly Tufnell
Molly first got involved with SEAP via her local Service User Representative Group by helping to interview advocacy candidates when the SEAP Bodmin office was about to be set up. Since then her participation has grown; she has gone from telling her story, to co-training on the taught courses, to training as an assessor and in January 2010 became a member of the SEAP board. She brings with her considerable experience of developing, delivering and assessing courses in Health and Social Care as well as personal experiences of desperately needing advocacy support (before it was available in Cornwall) as a service user.
Although being an artist Molly hasn’t exhibited for a couple of years due to the commitment she has made to QIA training and assessment.
Molly is originally from London, is married to Bryan who has recently retired, and has one daughter, Vanessa, who also lives and works in London.
Also - Nick Pizey
