We’re coming to the end of Advocacy Awareness Week, and today we’re catching up with Jo Jones, who has been an Advocate with our Kirklees Advocacy Hub for the past six months.
Advocacy Awareness Week is a national campaign that shines a spotlight on the vital role advocates play in supporting people to have their voices heard, their rights respected, and their choices honoured. It’s a chance to celebrate the difference advocacy makes every day — empowering individuals to take control of their own lives and ensuring that everyone, no matter their circumstances, is treated fairly and with dignity.
What does advocacy mean to you?
Advocacy to me means ensuring that people are heard and listened to, that their views and feelings are made paramount and that they the person feels that they are important, because they are!
What first made you interested in becoming an Advocate?
Advocacy is something that I have always done – often without realising it, for myself, family and friends or anyone that needed it. I then began to use advocacy skills within my employment roles and it quickly became something that I enjoyed immensely and gave me the most job satisfaction, so when I had the opportunity to join Cloverleaf as a trainee Advocate I was motivated to expand on any skills I had and gain further experience within an established organisation.
What do you find most rewarding about being an Advocate?
It is difficult to pinpoint what is most rewarding as there is so much. I find the whole role so rewarding, I often put myself in others’ shoes and imagine what may or may not happen should they not have an Advocate to support them.
Whilst advocating for family in the past, I imagine how difficult it must be for those who do not have this support or are unable to access it and that saddens me as everyone should have their views heard.
I enjoy supporting people and empowering them and hope that through their support they have learnt valuable skills in order to self advocate if required in the future. Sometimes others just need to know that someone cares and that they are being listened to, and it is a privilege to be part of that person’s journey.
