Finding an advocate

How you find an advocate will depend on your situation and what you want help with.

There are organisations you can contact to get support. And things you could try if there aren't any advocates in your area.

This page covers:

This page is part of our guide to:

Advocacy

My local Mind have recently acted on my behalf and having that support has meant I can move forward as I need to. The feeling of anxiety, which has been a part of my life for so long, has now lifted to a more manageable level.

Local Minds and Mind Infoline

Lots of local Minds offer advocacy services. You could contact your local Mind to see whether they can help.

You can also contact Mind's Infoline to ask for information about finding an advocate.

Other organisations

There are many organisations that can help you find statutory and community advocacy services in your local area.

You can contact them directly or ask someone to make a referral for you.

Advocacy Support Cymru (ASC)

029 2054 0444
ascymru.org.uk
Provides mental health advocacy in Wales.

Groundswell

groundswell.org.uk
Information and support for homeless people. Also provides peer-to-peer health advocacy in London.

Hub of Hope

hubofhope.co.uk
UK-wide mental health service database. Lets you search for local, national, peer, community, charity, private and NHS mental health support. You can filter results to find specific kinds of support.

Llais

llaiswales.org
Advocacy and support to make a complaint about health and social care in Wales. You can search for the Llais team that covers where you live in Wales.

MindOut

mindout.org.uk
Mental health service run by and for LGBTQ people.

National Survivor User Network (NSUN)

nsun.org.uk
Independent, service-user-led charity for people with experience of mental health issues. Provides information, networking opportunities and peer support.

POhWER

0300 456 2370
pohwer.net
Provides advocacy services in England.

Rethink Mental Illness

0808 801 0525
rethink.org
Support and information for anyone affected by mental health problems, including local support groups.

Santé Refugee Mental Health Access Project

santeproject.org.uk
Advocacy and befriending for vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers.

The Advocacy People

theadvocacypeople.org.uk
Charity providing advocacy services, including IMHA services. (Formerly known as SEAP).

VoiceAbility

voiceability.org
Provides advocacy services across England.

Remember: If you're entitled to statutory advocacy from an IMHA or IMCA, then you have a legal right to that support. You can't, for example, be told that there is no IMHA or IMCA service in your area.

Our pages on IMHAs and IMCAs have more information. They also tell you what you can do if you're denied the support of a IMHA or IMCA.

What if there's no advocacy service in my area?

Unfortunately, if you're not entitled to a statutory advocate, you may find there are limited advocacy services in your area – or none at all.

This can be really tough, especially if you feel you don't have anyone else you can ask for support. If you're in this situation, there are still some things you can try.

Set up group advocacy in your area

Group advocacy is when people with similar experiences support each other to have their voices heard. There are organisations that can help you set this up near you. For example, Rethink Mental Illness and VoiceAbility.

Ask a family member, friend or carer to act as an advocate for you

If you have people around you who could be your advocate, this could be an option for you.

There are some things to consider if you ask a friend or family member to advocate for you. Our page on what advocacy is has information about this.

Take steps towards speaking for yourself

Speaking up for yourself isn't easy. But there are things you can do to help yourself try. You could:

Build your self-esteem. Improving your self-esteem and building self-confidence could help you feel more assertive. You can find tips on our page on how to improve your self-esteem.
Prepare for appointments. Do as much as you're able to prepare before talking to health and social care professionals. Our pages on talking to your GP and making yourself heard have ideas you could try.
Learn self-advocacy skills. Some organisations run training sessions and workshops to help you learn new skills to support yourself. For example, MindOut's self-advocacy workshops. Rethink Mental Illness also has a guide to self-advocacy with lots of useful tips.
Think about ways to deal with stigma. You can find suggestions on our page on stigma and misconceptions about mental health.

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