Advocate jobs in Islington, greater london

Senior Specialist Advocate

Supporting parents with learning disabilities and/or neurodivergent needs
London (with travel across London and surrounding boroughs)
15–35 hours per week (flexible, subject to service need)
£31,044 pro rata | Permanent

Charity People is delighted to be partnering with The Elfrida Society to recruit a Senior Specialist Advocate to join their dedicated advocacy team. This is a rare opportunity to play a senior, practice-focused role within a respected, user-led charity with over 100 years of history supporting adults, parents and families with learning disabilities and neurodivergent needs.

About The Elfrida Society
The Elfrida Society is a values-driven organisation committed to rights, inclusion and social justice. Their independent advocacy services ensure that people who face systemic barriers are heard, respected and supported to influence decisions that affect their lives - particularly within social care, health, education and legal systems.

About the role
This is a senior advocacy role focused on supporting parents with learning disabilities and/or neurodivergent needs. You will lead complex and sensitive cases, work confidently across multi-agency environments, and help shape high-quality advocacy practice within the service.
You'll balance direct advocacy with contributing to service development, reflective practice and informal support for colleagues, helping to strengthen an already well-respected service.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading complex advocacy cases, including safeguarding, care planning, housing, health and legal processes
• Providing independent, person-centred advocacy using accessible communication and supported decision-making
• Preparing for and attending multi-agency meetings, case conferences and reviews
• Maintaining high-quality, accurate case records and working within safeguarding frameworks
• Contributing to quality improvement and best practice across the advocacy service

About you
You'll be an experienced advocate who is confident working autonomously, values reflective practice, and is deeply committed to empowerment and anti-oppressive approaches.

You will bring:

• A Level 4 Qualification in Advocacy (or equivalent)
• Experience supporting people with learning disabilities and neurodivergent needs
• Good knowledge of the Care Act, Mental Capacity Act, Equality Act and safeguarding frameworks
• Strong communication skills, including making information accessible
• The ability to manage complex caseloads independently

Experience working with parents, safeguarding cases or mentoring colleagues is welcomed but not essential.

What's on offer
The Elfrida Society places real value on staff wellbeing and professional support. Benefits include:

• 30 days annual leave plus bank holidays (pro rata)
• Occupational sick pay
• Regular clinical supervision and reflective practice
• Ongoing training and development
• Flexible working where possible
• Travel expenses reimbursed (outside of to and from work)
• A supportive, collaborative and values-led culture

How to apply
Applications from people with lived experience of disability, neurodiversity and social disadvantage are warmly encouraged. Please contact Abi with a copy of your CV.

Charity People is a forward thinking, inclusive organisation that actively and deliberately promotes equity, diversity and inclusion. We know organisations thrive when inclusion is at the forefront. We evidence our commitment by matching charity needs with the skills and experience of candidates irrespective of background e.g. age, disability (including hidden disabilities), gender, gender identity or gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation. We do this because we believe that greater diversity leads to greater results for the charities we work with.

Mind in Haringey is an independent charity organisation providing vital mental health services to our community in Haringey since 1989.

We have a broad and exciting range of services and projects running in a dynamic, evolving environment. We are constantly striving to develop and improve our services through listening to our community, peers, and staff team to evaluate and deliver the best possible projects for our community.

Working with Mind in Haringey will give you the opportunity to join a small, creative team with many opportunities for learning and progression. We are a diverse and passionate team, who welcome experiences and perspectives from all backgrounds. 

We particularly encourage applications from those with lived experience of mental health, from racialised communities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and residents of Haringey who are passionate about changing things for the better in the borough. 

Haringey is a melting pot of culture, history, and resilience. Though there is much that needs to be improved, we are proud to work as part of a community that has displayed great strength in hardship both in the past and in more recent years. Interested in joining us in this work? We look forward to receiving your application for the role.

The Haringey Wellbeing Network shall be working in partnership with the Haringey GP Federation, focusing on improving physical health outcomes for those living with Severe and Enduring Mental Illness (SMI) within the BAME community.

The aim of this work is to create a seamless and integrated physical health check service, which improves outcome targets and builds better rates of engagement within the BAME community.

The purpose of the BAME Community Advocate is to support the work of the Haringey GP Federation, which is commissioned to focused on improving the uptake of Physical Health Checks with people living with a SMI. The Community Advocate will enable a joined-up approach in identifying and coordinating patient care with local community groups and secondary care services. In addition, the community advocate is expected to manage the SMI registers for the Haringey Wellbeing Network and report to the Federation.

At KCLSU, our vision is to create a future where every student has the opportunity to thrive. Together with our members, we are a union of students where individuals love their university experience, are involved in shaping the future, and have the power to make change and connect to each other. We work to achieve this in a way that is aligned to our values - Inclusive, Collaborative, Open and Brave. These values guide how we behave, and how we go about our work.

We are currently looking for a Student Voice Department Manager. You will lead the team and shape the strategic development and delivery of KCLSU’s student voice work, and your responsibilities will include:

• Working with Associate Director of Community Engagement, supporting the strategic development and lead the operational implementation of the KCLSU and KCL Student Voice Partnership Agreement.

• Leading the Student Voice team to deliver proactive and responsive student voice engagement, ensuring an effective annual cycle of activity and the agility to respond to emerging issues across KCLSU, King’s College London and the wider student movement. 

• Overseeing day-to-day engagement with Student Officers and Representatives, ensuring they can identify, prioritise and engage with both long-standing and emerging issues affecting student communities throughout the year.

• Providing day-to-day operational management for 4 direct reports.

To apply for this role, please complete an application form, including a personal statement detailing how your skills and experience meet the person specification. 

To be eligible for this role, you must:

• Be eligible to work in the UK, and provide proof of this (i.e. a passport or visa) when asked by KCLSU. Please note that KCLSU is unable to offer visa sponsorship. 
• Have a National Insurance number, or be in the process of applying for one. 
• Not be a trustee of King's College London Students' Union.

We are looking for an enthusiastic individual with experience working in a policy role focused on food or related issues (climate, nutrition, health or education). You will have knowledge of the political landscape in the UK and experience working with or in government departments, academia and NGOs on a range of policy issues.

It is an exciting time in food policy, and in this role you’ll have opportunities to work across our national policy portfolio, whether its exploring the link between climate change and food prices, developing our proposition for a Good Food Bill, improving the Healthy Start scheme, or strengthening public sector procurement.

The postholder will manage a variety of high impact activities and outputs that are used to drive forward change across our national policy areas and will work will colleagues across the organisation working in national policy, local policy, communications, events and food business transformation to do this.

Due to the evolving policy landscape, there will be a chance to tailor the role to the interests and experience of the successful candidate.

Across these workstreams, you’ll get a chance to:

• contribute to the refinement of policy asks and comms messaging,
• undertake desk research to inform policy,
• coordinate activities with different stakeholders and partners working across different policy areas
• support Ambassadors on advocacy related to dietary inequalities
• support communications and campaign work related to this work

Job Description:

Management and Strategy

• Support the policy portfolio of campaigns and projects across our national policy areas, including on food prices and food inflation, our Good Food Bill campaign, Healthy Start and early years.
• Work closely with the Policy and Advocacy Manager to develop and implement project plans and deliverables across these areas
• Maintain a careful record of our policy impact according to our agreed metrics within our Monitoring Evaluation and Learning framework.
• Policy and research
• Synthesize evidence for and play a significant part in the development of position statements/briefings/reports, working closely with the wider policy team and our designer.
• Support the Public Affairs lead to develop policy products for use in parliamentary engagement.
• Working closely with our Research Lead, identify evidence gaps and policy research questions which are relevant to our policy work to support new positions and generate new ideas for research or evidence collection which help achieve our policy goals.
• Work where needed with external contractors in the delivery of specific pieces of work, setting clear expectations and holding them accountable for delivery.
• Stakeholder engagement
• Develop and maintain a strong civil society network of stakeholders, working to broaden the support base for specific policies.
• Participate in coalitions of organisations who are campaigning together on specific areas of policy change.
• Develop and maintain relationships with junior civil servants in key departments across all policy areas.
• Work with the Citizens Engagement Manager to identify opportunities to bring Adult and Young Food Ambassadors into policy activities and research.
• Represent the Food Foundation and present our work in external events and meetings with relevant audiences and the media.
• Budgets and fundraising
• Administer grants which support our projects and ensure that funders are kept well informed, receive timely reports and that budgets are kept on track.
• Maintain good relationships with funders according to their requirements and provide input to proposals and funding bids.

Communications and campaigns

• Develop a comprehensive approach to dissemination of our policy outputs so they reach our intended audiences.
• Act as a local/regional media spokesperson, brief journalists, and respond to media queries.
• Contribute policy and evidence expertise to support campaign delivery.
• Contribute policy expertise to press releases, newsletters, web copy, podcasts and blogs.
• Support the maintenance of website pages related to project areas.
• Draft social media posts and newsletters.

Personal Profile

Technical skills:

• Knowledge and understanding of the food system, food and nutrition and/or health policy and policy levers for change.
• Strong knowledge of the mechanics of the UK policy-making landscape, including the workings of Westminster and Whitehall.
• Proven experience in synthesising evidence and using evidence to make a case for change.
• Proven experience in writing reports and briefings for different audiences, with the ability to explain complex and highly nuanced subject matter in plain English.
• Previous experience working in a policy role, refining policy asks and communicating these with different stakeholders
• Excellent analytic skills and close attention to detail.

Personal skills:

• Proven experience in budget management, project management and reporting to funders.
• Proven experience in managing multiple projects concurrently to tight deadlines and prioritising workload.
• Strong interpersonal skills and experience working collaboratively as a member of an interdisciplinary team.
• Strong presentation skills and confidence in speaking to external audiences.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
• Ability to problem-solve and manage risk.
• Ability to work independently and manage own time effectively.
• Ability to build strong relationships with all members of the team.
• Open to giving and receiving challenging viewpoints.
• Resilience and tenacity whilst recognising the need for self-awareness and the impact of actions on others and the organisation.
• Willingness to travel for project meetings and dissemination events.
• A confident networker who enjoys building connections and relationships with new people.

This job description is intended as an outline indicator of general areas of activity only. The Food Foundation is a small charity and as such all staff are expected to vary their duties as necessary to meet the needs of the organisation.

Please see the full job pack on our website 

Job Title:                     Case Worker – CAPSA Services (Culturally Appropriate Peer Support and Advocacy)  

Reports to:                  CAPSA Team Manager

Geographic focus: Lambeth

Salary:£30,500

Hours of Work: 37.5 per week (flexible working available)

Duration:                    2 Year Contract (with a potential to extend)

Benefits:26 days annual leave plus bank holidays, pension contribution, Employees' Assistance Programme.

Purpose of the role

The CAPSA (Culturally Appropriate Peer Support and Advocacy) Worker role has been specifically designed to support Black people using the secondary mental health system. As a CAPSA Worker, you will provide both Generic Mental Health Advocacy and Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) to eligible individuals, including people detained under the Mental Health Act(MHA) 1983/2007, conditionally discharged restricted patients, those under Guardianship, and those on Community Treatment orders, as well as individuals considered for section 57 treatments.

You will play a key role in ensuring that the perspectives of Black service users are recognised and respected, addressing their unique and multiple needs, and promoting access to advocacy for all eligible individuals. You will raise awareness of advocacy, rights under the MHA, and the CAPSA service among professionals, individuals, and agencies.

In addition to direct advocacy, you will contribute to service development by supporting an effective administration system and helping evaluate the impact of advocacy for both service users and commissioners.

As part of CAPSA’s race-led approach to systems change, you will also help challenge systemic racism in mental health services, embed culturally competent practice, and promote equitable care within South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (SLaM).

Job summary

Black Thrive Lambeth has developed a co-designed, culturally appropriate peer support and advocacy service (CAPSA) on behalf of the Living Well Network Alliance (LWNA). CAPSA provides support to Black community members with mental health needs through peer support and advocacy, led by individuals with lived experience or lived understanding of mental health challenges. The service creates a space where experiences are respected, accepted, and valued equally.

The role involves building positive relationships with Black service users; offering one-to-one and group advocacy; supporting self-advocacy; gathering and sharing information to inform decision-making; and preparing monitoring reports and feedback. Advocates ensure that the views, wishes, and needs of Black service users are heard and acknowledged, addressing the impact of racism within traditional mental health services.

Duties and responsibilities

Key Responsibilities:

Advocacy & Support for Black Service Users

• Work with individual Black service users to provide culturally informed advocacy, support, and representation to assist them in decision-making related to their care, treatment, and legal status.
• You will manage a caseload of up to 10 clients.
• This will consist of weekly meetings with clients and supporting them around their care in the mental health system, this will be both within inpatient services and CMHTs (Community Mental Health Teams) as well as in the community.
• Support Black service users in developing and maintaining their cultural identity by identifying strengths and advocating for culturally relevant mental health interventions.
• Develop trusting relationships with Black service users within appropriate boundaries to help them express their mental health needs.
• Assist service users in preparing for meetings, attend appointments with them if required, and advocate on their behalf where needed.
• Provide information and updates on the progress of advocacy issues and ensure clients understand proceedings.

Culturally Informed Peer Support & Recovery

• Use lived experience and cultural understanding to promote positive self-esteem and recovery through a culturally informed peer support model.
• Provide practical guidance to Black service users, and where appropriate, their carers, on self-care, resilience strategies, and managing mental health within a race equality framework.
• Promote service user involvement by empowering individuals to communicate their culturally lived experiences and mental health needs to professionals.
• Challenge peer support models, stigma, and discriminatory practices that fail to recognise the cultural needs of Black service users.

Community Engagement & Stakeholder Collaboration

• Work collaboratively with key stakeholders and community members to develop a culturally informed advocacy and peer support model.
• Establish regular advocacy ‘drop-ins’ on wards and in the community, ensuring accessibility for Black service users.
• Signpost service users to culturally relevant community, inpatient, and online resources, as well as mainstream and specialist services.
• Liaise with, and when necessary, challenge NHS professionals, care teams, and local authorities to ensure due process and cultural competence in service delivery.
• To maintain a level of professionalism in all spaces always.

Role Expectations

• Maintain confidentiality, respect service users’ right to privacy, and ensure their dignity is always upheld.
• Keep accurate and timely records of advocacy and peer support work, providing regular verbal and written reports to the line manager.
• Attend team meetings, participate in one-to-one supervision, group supervision sessions, and complete mandatory training in peer support and other job-related areas.
• Raise safeguarding concerns following organisational policies and procedures.

GENERAL

• To attend and participate in meetings held by the CAPSA team and other bodies as required.
• To maintain records of hours worked and to complete accurate expense returns.
• To foster and develop an equality and diversity approach within the role, in line with Black Thrive’
• To promote the service through the distribution of publicity materials, liaising with statutory and voluntary services, and, where appropriate, through the media and presentations to local groups within the agreed company policies.
• To promote the role of advocates both within the Living Well Network Alliance (LWNA) and externally.
• To work well as part of the team in a way that promotes inclusivity and respect in a supportive environment.
• The above is not an exhaustive list of duties, and you will be expected to perform different tasks as necessitated by your changing role within the organisation and the overall business objectives of the organisation.

Qualities Required

Each quality is marked as either E (Essential) or D (Desirable).

Experience (E/D)

1. Understanding and/or experience of mental health legislation and the Mental Health journey process in numerous settings – E
2. Lived experience of racism or discrimination in wider society and in the provision of mental health services – E
3. Experience of identifying and meeting the needs of individual people – E
4. Experience and ability to develop and maintain relationships with various stakeholders – E
5. A commitment to working in an anti-racist and anti-oppressive way – E
6. Confidence in challenging stigma and discrimination within structural settings – E
7. Experience of working in an advocacy or healthcare setting – D

Knowledge and Skills (E/D)

1. Understanding and knowledge of assessment of needs – E
2. Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work with people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences – E
3. Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, including via telephone, in person, over video link, and through presentations, demonstrating confidence and assertiveness – E
4. Emotional resilience and the ability to cope with sometimes challenging people and environments – E
5. Ability to work flexibly to meet varying demands on the service – E
6. Good organisational skills, including timekeeping and ability to travel to different locations – E
7. Excellent computer literacy and a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office – E
8. An understanding and awareness of The Equality Act 2010 – E
9. Ability to act calmly and respond professionally to distress, disturbance, and unpredictability – E
10. Ability to work independently on own initiative and prioritise workload while working as part of a team – E
11. Commitment to learning through work-based learning and mandatory training – E
12. Knowledge of mental health legislation such as MHA 1983/2007, MCA 2017 – D
13. Understanding of the specific role, purpose, and responsibilities of an Independent Mental Health Advocate – D
14. Knowledge and/or awareness of safeguarding issues – D
15. An additional language (e.g., Portuguese, French, etc.) – D
16. Qualifications in Peer Support / Advocacy – D

We welcome applications specifically from Black people of African and Caribbean heritage, as the statutory requirement of the Equality Act 2010, Advance Equality in Mental Health 2020 and Parent Carer Race Equality Framework 2020, in order to address the importance of Black employee safety. These posts are therefore restricted to Black applicants under the Equality Act 2010, Schedule 9 and Part 1.

An enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be required. Still, we will treat applicants with a criminal record fairly and not unreasonably discriminate because of a conviction or other information revealed.

 

 

About the role

The UK’s international trade policy is at a crossroads: beginning to move on from the relentless focus on Free Trade Agreements which primarily exist to serve corporate interests, but yet to embrace a vision for trade which prioritises equality, environmental sustainability and human rights. 

The Advocacy Manager’s role is to build political support for the Trade Justice Movement’s policy priorities. They will represent TJM in high-level settings including parliamentary meetings, party conferences and on government stakeholder groups. They will build strong relationships with parliamentarians, advisors, committee staff and civil servants. They will also play a key role in researching and agreeing policy positions in collaboration with civil society allies. 

TJM is a small team and the Advocacy Manager will have a flexible and collaborative approach, responding to political events, seizing opportunities to influence and pitching in with broader organisational priorities. 

The Advocacy Manager will be responsible for setting TJM’s political influencing strategy, with support from the Director, and will be able to plan and deliver their work independently. 

About the organisation

TJM is a UK-based coalition of 45 charities, trade unions and faith groups working for a fairer, greener world by supporting international trade policies which prioritise people and planet. 

TJM is composed of four staff members (Director, Advocacy Manager, Research Manager, Senior Communications Adviser), all of whom work closely with allies both within and outside our membership. 

Criteria for a successful applicant

A successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following essential criteria:

• Excellent communication skills, including written communication and interpersonal networking, relationship-building and influencing skills

• Experience of producing high-quality briefings and developing policy positions for political audiences

• Experience working with political stakeholders such as MPs, parliamentary committees, or other parliamentary actors to build support for a progressive agenda

• Deep understanding of policy-making processes in the UK, both within parliament and central government departments

• Demonstrable ability to build strong expertise in complex policy areas

• Excellent analytical skills and political awareness 

• Experience of organising and running political or civil society events

• Strong ability to work independently, with minimal supervision, managing own work, prioritising and meeting deadlines

A successful candidate may be able to demonstrate the following desirable criteria:

• Experience of working within a network organisation and/or in collaboration with civil society groups

• Knowledge of trade justice issues, international development, climate and environmental policy or another similar policy area

• Experience working on fundraising bids to charitable trusts and foundations 

• Digital communications skills

This role builds on work that we have been doing for decades to support and empower LGBT people who have experienced hate crime. Your work will enable LGBT people who live outside of London and in rural areas to feel supported, heard and empowered in the face of abuse and violence, and pave the way to a safer future for our community.
 
You will work directly with LGBT victims/survivors, offering them a space to talk and think through options, helping them plan what they want to do, and offering assistance in getting what they need from services. Your work will focus on needs specifically related experiences of hate crime including issues such as wellbeing, support with the criminal and civil justice process, safety and access to other services to enable survivors to cope and recover. You will be empathetic and thoughtful in your approach to understanding your clients’ needs, while remaining boundaried and mindful of self-care.
 
You will sit alongside our other advocates supporting LGBT people facing abuse or violence but be part of the Hate Crime team. You will work with mainstream services to ensure the voices and experiences of LGBT survivors are represented in order to make change for our community at a local and national level. You will also work closely with partner organisations in the CATCH partnership, our Pan-London Hate Crime service, by attending meetings and trainings and have the opportunity to take part in external work to ensure a joined-up approach among services working with LGBT people facing abuse and violence. 
 
For more information on this role please download the attached job description. 
 
Location
We will consider applicants based across the UK.

For remote applicants, this role will be home-based with occasional travel to our London office and across the UK. 

For London-based applicants, this role will be Hybrid, working from our London offices two days a week.
 
Hours
Full Time (35 hours per week)
 
Contract
Fixed-term until 31st March 2027
 
Reports to
Advocacy & Support Manager
 
Salary
London: £32,626.66 per year (Including London Weighting)
Outside of London: £28,330.41 per year
 
Closing Date 
Applications should be submitted by 10am on 12th May 2026.
Interviews will be held on 20th May 2026. 
 
REF-227 984