This is Faith’s story of her incredible, fast journey from volunteering to paid employment with AdvoCard…
Around a year ago I was browsing the GoodMoves website and came across and AdvoCard advert looking to recruit several advocacy workers. To be honest I had never been aware of AdvoCard before this but when I read the article, I was immediately convinced the role of Advocacy Worker with AdvoCard was a position that really interested me and I felt I would be suited to.
I was not successful at getting the post at the time, however, I was encouraged to look out for additional posts that where apparently due to come up quite soon. It was also suggested that I put my name forward for the next volunteer training sessions starting up soon. I took this advice and accepted the offer.
A few months later I began the volunteer training, for a few hours a week on a Thursday night. The training was informative and offered good insight and practice for the role of advocacy worker/volunteer advocacy worker. The group I was part of were all very friendly and comprised of people from different age groups and backgrounds with a wealth of different personal and professional experience. The training was not exclusive to prospective volunteers but also new paid members of staff. The Volunteer Coordinator facilitating the training was always noticeably clear about AdvoCard’s gratitude towards volunteers and how appreciated and intrinsic their work was to the service. This message was reiterated throughout the training by all the other members of staff involved in different sessions.
After completing the training program and only being in several times in my volunteer capacity, I was approached by one of the managers and asked if I was interested in taking on a short-term part-time position. To be honest I would have been happy volunteering until a position with the right hours came up for as long as that took, but at the same time was delighted this opportunity came up so soon. Not long into this position, before it was due to end, another position came up which I was allowed the opportunity to take up and am really excited about.
To date my experience with AdvoCard has been extremely positive. I think staff, either volunteers or paid, are valued and invested in. I realise my transition from volunteer to paid employee was amazingly fast and a lot of this would have been down to luck and circumstance timing-wise. However, I do believe AdvoCard are very thorough in their recruitment/training with regards to volunteers and staff alike and that is why, should a volunteer wish to make the transition to paid employee, there will be opportunities to do this.
Vincent, one of our Advocacy Workers, shares his views on the value volunteers bring to our organisation…
From very outset having trained volunteers has been at the heart of this organisation.
People with lived experience of mental health who set up AdvoCard did not want another bunch of pseudo-professionals jumping on the gravy train providing mental health services. Nor did they want people who did not have a grasp on the concept and values of advocacy, hence the appointment of a Training Officer way back in the early days.
In my experience of being in both roles as volunteer and paid worker, I felt more valued by advocacy partners as a volunteer as I had given of my own time freely which showed a commitment which did not need payment as a reward.
By being a volunteer, I developed a skill set and experience that has stood me in great stead as a paid worker in a role which I hope is also valued by advocacy partners when done properly to support their views, no matter the opposition they may face.
The organisation benefits so much from the wide range of experiences that volunteers add to the depth of work experience and lifestyles that a workforce does not always replicate, given the more usual career paths of paid workers.
AvoCard must never lose sight of these founding principles, nor should it exploit the goodwill of those who volunteer because therein lies their value to the organisation and society as a whole.
And here Darren, one of our Advocacy Workers, shares his amazing story of his journey from volunteering with AdvoCard to paid employment…
I first heard about AdvoCard when I was at Edinburgh college as a mature student on a Scottish Wider Access Program, and I was considering different university courses I would like to apply to. I was interested in studying psychology and went to an open day at Queen Margaret University to find out more about potentially studying there. I spoke with the director of the psychology department there, who suggested to me that when applying to uni, it is good to have some volunteering experience as an aspect of your applications personal statement. I had not considered this prior to this point and decided to investigate what was available in my area. I discovered AdvoCard as a result of this search for organisations that had a volunteer aspect to them that involved working
with and assisting people. I contacted AdvoCard and spoke with the volunteer coordinator Paul. We discussed the nature of the work that is done by AdvoCard and what form a role would be like for me should I become a volunteer advocacy worker. I was happy and excited to sign up and begin, which I did so.
Unfortunately, prior to my beginning of the training sessions at AdvoCard, my plans took an unexpected turn when a serious family event happened at home in Ireland meant I decided to leave my course, leave Edinburgh and return to my family home in Ireland to see if I could help in the situation that had happened. This was a surprising and when I look back at it now, quite a traumatic time. I spent almost a year back in Ireland before returning to Scotland. I felt reassured that my decision to leave was a good one, and I felt that I was able to be of help in the situation there, but I was happy to return to my chosen home, Edinburgh.
Upon my return, I contacted Paul at AdvoCard again, said I was still interested in doing some volunteering and that my time spent at home caring for a loved one had potentially prepared me for doing a role where being helpful and assisting people would be something I think I could do. Paul was very encouraging and considerate to me throughout this period which led me to believe I was signing up to a very helpful and welcoming organisation.
I thoroughly enjoyed the training sessions I had with my fellow comrades in volunteering! Across the 10 training sessions, I felt like I learned so much about not only advocacy and how it works, but also about people and how we understand each other in a very assistive, nurturing and open way. I felt I had personally gained a lot by going through this process, had made friends with several new fellow volunteers and had joined an organisation that was truly endeavouring to help those that needed assistance.
We had “graduated” from our training and got our official clearance approved by the new year of 2020 and I had started volunteering. I found it incredibly rewarding. I was in awe of how people would share their personal stories with you and how much strength it took to, (for some), to fight for themselves, (and for others), ask for help when they needed it, to get the information or access to what was their right to receive.
And then, COVID. While studying and volunteering at AdvoCard, I was also working part-time at a supermarket. I could not continue to come to the advocacy office while working in a high-risk, front- line job. I was taken away from volunteering again! It was not until September that the suggestion of a return to volunteering could begin. I was provided with a laptop and a phone, and was encouraged to explore how to do advocacy in quite a different way than we had learned through our training. So, we called and emailed, texted and voice mailed. It was not the advocacy I had been used to, but we persevered, figured out what was workable, and did what we could to assist in any way that was feasible to us. I returned to working in the office in November with Paul for a period, but this again stopped happening as we approached the new year and circumstances were changing again.
I went back to working from home with the laptop and phone, something which I had adapted to somewhat at this stage and continued volunteering. In April of 2021, AdvoCard moved to new offices and were advertising some new roles in the organisation. I initially didn’t consider myself for any of the roles that were required. Between my studies, other work, and not fully feeling certain I could be ready for such a role, I hesitated in applying. But I spoke with colleagues and decided to apply. AdvoCard were very flexible and agreeable to any request made regarding fitting working around my studies, and after an interview with the management, I was offered a role as a Problematic Substance Use Advocacy Worker. I was thrilled and excited to start this new part of my advocating career. I receive more training, and I returned to working in the office with more new colleagues. I was happy to be back doing advocacy in person again.
I worked extra hours over my summer break from uni. I was asked if I would be interested in working at the AdvoCard office at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, working with people who were patients in the psychiatric wards under detainment orders and assisting then in engaging and, if required, challenging aspects of their diagnosis, treatment and detention. I learned so much in my time working there, and I was again amazed and in awe of the openness and willingness that people had in allowing me to see how they were, and how I could potentially assist them during their time in hospital.
My time at AdvoCard has been eye-opening to me. I learned about how varied and different a person and their circumstances can be, and I learned how to, hopefully at least, see how someone could engage with a person’s challenges in their circumstances and help steer them in directions enabling potential improvements in their circumstances. Things do not always come about as they or I may hope, but I have found it most rewarding to know that in all kinds of different ways, people respond to attention and care you may give to them, and how that can achieve some real life enhancing results.
