ONSIDE Advocacy

ONSIDE is a local charity working across Worcestershire & Herefordshire to provide a wide range of services that aim to ensure fairness and equality, improve physical and mental health and wellbeing, and give people a voice in decisions that affect them. ONSIDE work with people who may be vulnerable disadvantaged or simply finding life`s challenges difficult to help them live the best life possible.

ONSIDE services include Advocacy, Social Prescribing, Lifestyle advice, Wellbeing coaching, Community Mental Health Transformation, Dementia Support and the PLUS service which helps people who are experiencing loneliness or isolation.

In 2021 we were delighted to be selected by Worcestershire Law Society as their charity of the year and are extremely grateful for the support and fundraising that has taken place. It will make a huge difference to the people in our community that we support. We would like to take the opportunity to share with you some information on one of our projects and demonstrate to you just how much of a difference your support can make to some of the vulnerable and disadvantaged people we support.

ONSIDE Parents Support Advocacy

ONSIDE provide a free advocacy service for parents to support them during assessments and proceedings. We are totally independent from the local authority and remain unbiased to ensure clients are treated fairly and with respect. So often the parents we support need help accessing a solicitor, are unsure about their rights and where to get information, feel overwhelmed and/or confused about their situation and simply find it hard to say how they feel.

Our advocates play a key role on many levels from supporting the parent to understand and uphold their rights, helping them to understand the relevant information, provide independent advocacy and ensure their views and wishes are represented. We even accompany clients to meetings, court hearings and other appointments related to the care of their children – so often this can make a huge difference. A recent case study highlights just how much of a difference we can help in supporting the parents when they need it most:

Caroline’s mental ill health had a significant effect on being able to protect her children and keep them safe from domestic violence in the home, resulting in the children being placed in foster care. She was allocated an advocate before the Issues Resolution Hearing (IRH) in summer last year and a home visit was needed to support Caroline in attending the

WLS Charity Walk to raise money for ONSIDE Advocacy

IRH remotely. In the lead up to the final hearing Caroline was extremely anxious and even considered not attending court as she had great difficulty leaving her house. Our advocate was able to offer emotional support via telephone and additional home visits whilst liaising with an ONSIDE Mental Health Link worker in order to provide the best support and encouragement.

It was evident a greater level of support would be needed for the final hearing, in addition to her mental health concerns, Caroline’s stress was exasperated by the financial impact of attending the court too. In order to ensure Caroline was in attendance our advocate travelled to and from court with her. The costs of this was kindly covered by ONSIDE’s Access Fund so as not to further impact her anxiety levels. It became evident without this extra emotional and financial help, it would have been unlikely that Caroline would have attended the hearing.

A further home visit to support Caroline was arranged for the delivery of the final hearing, which resulted in the outcome that Caroline’s children would remain in long term foster care. Feeling distraught and struggling to understand why her children were taken from her, her relationships with professionals involved were poor. Both the advocate and the ONSIDE mental health link worker were able to make a final visit to support Caroline at her home, joined by a PAWS key worker. Our advocate continues to support her at LAC reviews going forward.

Supporting people in our community who may struggle to have a voice and who may face discrimination is key to our core ONSIDE values and work. Without the help of our amazing advocates, Caroline’s case could have been an even more traumatic experience for her and a strained and difficult process for the professionals involved. As a charitable organisation we are extremely proud to be able to support parents who may face a particularly challenging journey.

The funds raised by WLS will without doubt contribute towards us providing essential advocacy and, when needed, financial assistance in cases similar to Carolines. We are extremely grateful for all fundraising and professional input.

Could you help us to keep up with the latest information?

We would really appreciate some regular (quarterly) refresher sessions of legal aspects in relation to PLO and proceedings for our advocates so they can be fully equipped and have up to date knowledge to support parents. If this is something you or your colleagues could assist with, we would love to hear from you. Please contact our PSA Manager, Sarah Hudson at sarah.hudson@ONSIDEadvocacy.org.uk or call via our Access team on 01905 27525.