Advocacy In Wirral
Advocacy's Founder Honoured!
Lilian Baker, founder of Advocacy in Wirral, has received an MBE in the 2010 New Year’s Honours List.
Having suffered serious mental health problems herself over many years, Lilian, who lives in Bebington, felt that the practical help available to people experiencing mental health difficulties was virtually non-existent. She founded Advocacy in Wirral in 1992 to assist people, and their carers, with practical issues such as benefits and housing advice, to help them in making as full a recovery as possible.
From a small team of three or four friends, all of whom suffered mental health problems themselves, Lilian has guided the charity to the respected place it now holds within the health and wellbeing scene in Wirral. Advocacy in Wirral now employs over 50 staff and has nearly as many volunteers helping its work. Although benefits and housing advice are still the mainstay of the organisation’s services (many of which are now offered with NHS and Social Services funding) the help available now includes a range of recovery strategies as well.
About Advocacy in Wirral
Advocacy in Wirral was set up in July 1992 by a small group of service users who had identified an unmet need in the services being offered to people with mental health problems in Wirral.This service has now been extended to cover people who experience drug and/or alcohol related problems, and we now also deliver a range of recovery-based services. |
NEWS: Wirral Advocacy Conference - 15 April 2010
Wirral Advocacy Partnership (WAP) hosted a Wirral-wide conference to promote advocacy in the borough on 15 April 2010.The conference was open to anyone with an interest in advocacy services in Wirral, and highlighted the work of the WAP membership organisations, and over 140 people attended. For further information on the work of the Wirral Advocacy Partnership, please contact Jenny Naylor on 0151 650 1530. You can view a series of videos that were presented to the conference here.
‘Today has broadened my knowledge of advocacy and destroyed a lot of myths. Always thought advocates as representatives for people who have no one else but discovered this is not the case. I would not hesitate to promote advocacy to anyone, particularly if they were unable to speak or act for themselves. Before today, not aware of broad spectrum of problems and vulnerable groups served by advocacy. Truly a shared understanding - well done!’ For more information on the Wirral Advocacy Partnership, click here. For an evaluation report on the conference, click here. If you've got ideas for our next conference, contact WAP at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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