Page 26 - Community Living Magazine 35-2

self-advocacy

Funding self-advocacy tent as referring to people speaking up for
themselves, individually or collectively.
Elsewhere, however, it is far from clear;
many local authority commissioners have
limited knowledge of the sector, what
While self-advocacy groups often struggle financially, many self-advocacy means, why it matters and
secure good funding. Jan Walmsley looks at why this has arisen its potential value to them.
There are no kite marks, no national
and at getting funding from charities and commissioners website where a commissioner can find

their local group and no agreed definition.
There is an urgent need to close these gaps.
he funding of self-advocacy has been Self-advocacy also becomes confused
a preoccupation for the movement with advocacy. Local authorities have to
Tfor as long as I can remember. Ask fund advocacy under the Care Act 2014.
anyone involved, and they will talk about It takes a sophisticated commissioner to
the loss of local and national government both understand the difference and have
funding, the closure of groups and the the skills to persuade their politicians,
limits on what they can do. who may not know much about learning
Given this, the Open University- disability, to fund both.
Learning Disability England (OU-LDE) One commissioner noted that their
partnership decided to look into the authority’s high level of spending on
funding of self-advocacy in England. advocacy all went on work that was
The research was supported by an required specifically under the Care Act.
advisory group convened by LDE, With unlimited funding, self-advocates would All the commissioners we interviewed
comprising LDE, leaders of well- like kitchens where people could learn to cook, recognised the value that self-advocacy
established self-advocacy groups, a drop-in sessions at care homes and training brought them. All but one paid for it – he
knowledgeable local authority could not find a suitable group locally.
commissioner and the chief executive of direct payments – secure, but hard to Self-advocacy helped by getting services
All Wales People First. Funding came from expand. Several had local authority right first time and making it possible to
the OU’s knowledge transfer initiative. project funding but, to get this, needed to consult and engage meaningfully. It even
Checking Charity Commission and know the right language, referring to their saved lives by drawing attention to the
Companies House data, to our surprise we work as engagement and consultation. need for Covid-19 vaccine prioritisation.
found several groups had an income in Some actively avoided local authority There is good news here. Some groups
the £300,000-£500,000 range. This went funding, saying it would prevent them are good at getting funding, skilful at
against received wisdom. from criticising the council when they wording bids to fit local authorities’
Clearly, some groups are managing, needed to. Others acknowledged a need current priorities and brilliant at selling
despite austerity and the withdrawal of to tread carefully when confronting. their services. And some commissioners
central government funding since 2017. Most groups sell services such as really get why they should be funding
So there is an interesting story somewhere. easy-read translations, accessible guides, self-advocacy, even if they struggle to
inspections and reviews, lockdown do so.
Where the money comes from support, training and consultancy. There But things could be a lot better. There
Next, we undertook some interviews, are markets for all of these. are areas with no active groups. An
focusing on why self-advocacy is Lottery and charitable foundation funding information campaign on self-advocacy,
commissioned in some areas but not is a mainstay, with the Lottery praised for why it matters and how it helps local
others, how groups are funded when they its accessible application process. Other authorities meet their obligations to
lack local authority support and how funders make it far less easy to co-produce consult and engage is urgent.
self-advocacy groups perceive the pros applications and reports. These sources Leaders of self-advocacy organisations
and cons of different types of funding. are, however, short term, and funders are need opportunities to learn about selling
We talked to members and staff from resistant to funding core office costs. themselves and about fundraising. And
self-advocacy groups of varying sizes and In some cases, self-advocacy is funded funders could think hard about application
funding models, people whose jobs under the radar, with people giving time processes that can be co-produced, and
include commissioning self-advocacy and for free, piggybacking on their day jobs, imaginative ways to monitor provision.
our advisory group. for example as advocates. Self-advocates, when asked what they
The findings reveal a mixed picture. There are important messages here. would do if funding was unlimited
Certainly, local authority funding, once Self-advocacy groups need to be flexible suggested a kitchen where people could
the mainstay, is declining and unreliable. and creative to survive. Their leaders need learn to cook healthy food, a drop-in for
One group said: “It’s always been to know how to frame funding applications care homes so more people could learn
enough to keep us alive, not enough to or have the money to pay a professional about self-advocacy, formal certification
allow us to thrive.” fundraiser. The good news is that this can for self-advocates’ job skills and help to
However, it is not an entirely gloomy be done. Some groups are doing very well. learn to use technology.
picture. There are many different ways to What a wonderful world that would be. n Leigh Ann/Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
fund self-advocacy. What commissioners need to know ● A link to the research report will be
One group is funded as a day service, The term self-advocacy itself is an issue. It is published at www.open.ac.uk/health-and-
which members pay to attend out of their understood within the learning disability social-care/research/shld/news

26 Vol 35 No 2 | Winter 2022 Community Living www.cl-initiatives.co.uk