Friends of KAG
KAG Advocacy, then known as Kingston Citizen Advocacy Group, was
launched on 1st February 1989.It was established as a response to the
proposed closure of the long- stay hospitals under the Community Care
Act 1983. Helen Clarke, a Social Worker with RBK (working at Long Grove
psychiatric hospital) took on the role of developing the charity.
Through her work at Long Grove, Helen was made aware of the anxiety
suffered by many of the residents due to the fear of leaving the security
of the hospital which had been their ‘home’ for most of their lives. In
researching how to support these vulnerable individuals Helen became
aware of the work undertaken in the United States of America by
Professor Wolf Wolfensberger. In order to address similar issues he had
developed Disability Rights Advocacy based on the principle of
Normalization and Social Role Valorization.
Helen set about developing this approach to promoting the Rights and
Interests of those affected by the move to Community Care. She
identified those who would need personal Advocates to assist them with
everyday practical matters i.e help gain access to services and benefits;
provide protection from exploitation and neglect; offer friendship and
emotional support. In order to provide this service Helen set about
recruiting and training a team of volunteers from the local community.
These were matched with vulnerable individuals on a one-one basis.
(The first person who benefitted from the Advocacy service was a lady
living at Long Grove hospital who ‘escaped’ from the Social worker
whilst out shopping in Kingston. She was being prepared for a move
back to East London from where she had originated. She found her way
to the KAG office and pleaded for help in making her case to continue
living in the Epsom area which she knew very well. Her volunteer
Advocate helped her to make her case to the Authorities and they won).
To maintain the integrity of the charity it was important that it was
funded independently. Subsequently grants were obtained from a range
of charitable trusts and individual donors. This enabled KAG to extend its
services across Kingston, Surrey and Richmond to all vulnerable
individuals including those with mental health problems, people with learning disabilities and vulnerable elderly individuals. The passing of the
Human Rights Act in 1998 provided the vehicle for delivery of Advocacy.
SHOUT was one of the first Learning Disabled groups to be developed in
the country. It was established by KAG in Kingston to provide a Voice for
those dependent on others. It was ultimately instrumental in helping to
develop the Parliament where individuals with learning disabilities
dictated the agenda and helped make the decisions!
The passing of the Independent Mental Capacity Act 2007 (IMCA) put a
duty on the Health and Social Services Authorities to ensure that
individuals lacking capacity should have a Representative when decisions
are being made about their care and treatment. This was extended in
2009 with the introduction of DoLS (deprivation of liberty safeguards).
To fulfil their duties under these Acts the Authorities were put in the
position of having to purchase the service from independent providers.
This resulted in a dilemma for Advocacy groups- does it ‘sell’ its service
to the statutory Authorities or do we turn our back on a golden
opportunity? Ultimately, after much deliberation KAG decided to be a
provider whilst always maintaining its independence.
A team of IMCA Advocates was trained by the Department of Health;
some of these became members in developing the training programme.
KAG also established a training programme under the guidance of Sue
Boakes who had joined the organisation in 1996, originally as a
volunteer.
The purchaser-provider approach led to a huge increase in Advocacy
work for KAG; referrals came in from Authorities up and down the land.
These were mainly for vulnerable individuals placed in our area. From
time to time the Advocate was required to visit a faroff placement eg
A person placed in a home in Cornwall by London Borough of Richmond.
The introduction of the Care Act in 2014 has led to further purchasing of
Advocacy by the Authorities on a spot purchase basis ie on an hourly
rate for work undertaken. On the face of it this appears to be a
reasonable arrangement; in practice it has led to a lot of our time been
spent following up on Invoices!
In order to meet the full range of needs of vulnerable individuals KAG
continues to apply for grants from independent sources e,g ESF. This enables
the organisation to provide a range of non-statutory services including
Mentoring, Home Visiting etc.
For many years KAG has provided the Appropriate Adult Scheme at Kingston
Police station as required by PACE (Police and Criminal Act). Volunteers are
trained and supervised by the scheme co-ordinator in providing this service.