PARENTS & CARERS - ADVOCACY
What is Advocacy?
Advocacy aims to empower people to represent their own interests and where this is not possible to advocate on their behalf.
An advocate helps you to gain access to information, to fully explore and understand your options and to make your wishes known.
Advocacy services use a person centred approach to help empower you or your young adult to represent their own needs, to fully understand their options, and make your views and wishes known.
Advocates provide information that can provide short and long-term support with the overall aim to involve you or your young adult in the services they receive and ensure their voice is heard.
Having additional support needs can be terribly frustrating. One of the biggest frustrations for your young adult is having to deal with filling out forms, making appointments and speaking to strangers about their situation. Having an advocate on their side can really help.
An advocate could be:
- You - Parent or carer
- Close friend
- Teacher
- Someone from an organisation concerned with your disability
- Hansel Foundation’s focus group
- Someone from social work services
- Solicitor
- Advocate from an advocacy service
- Friendship circle
- Fairway facilitator
For more information please go to Young Adults section
Below please find contact information for Advocacy Services in Ayrshire:
North Ayrshire
AIMS Advocacy
31 Hamilton St
Saltcoats
KA21 5DT
Tel: 01294 608663
aims.advoc@ukonline.co.uk
South Ayrshire
CASS (Citizens Advocacy Support Service)
Sutherland House
123 Prestwick tRoad
Ayr
KA8 8NJ
Tel: 01292 268873
East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire Advocacy Services Ltd
20 Lindsay Street
Kilmarnock
KA1 2BB
Tel: 01563 574442
Other Useful Contacts:
South Ayrshire Carers Centre – 01292 263000
North Ayrshire Carers Centre – 01294 311333
East Ayrshire Carers Centre – 01563 571533
Who Cares? Scotland – 0141 226 4441
www.whocaresscotland.org
Youth Advocacy Group – 01563 572757
CHAP (Housing Advocacy)
Tel no. 01294 313137
www.chap.org.uk or visit our youth site www.chap-at-the-door.org.uk
