Age Concern Cheshire has been providing advocacy services for older people since 1993. Since then we have provided support, information and representation for hundreds of older people across the county with a variety of advocacy needs. We are members of the Age Concern federation and their Advocacy Network, PASSION (Providers of Advocacy Services Support and Information Network) and work to the standards of the Advocacy Charter and Code of Practice developed by Action for Advocacy.

We also hold the Community Legal Services Quality Mark at General Help with Casework level in Community Care and Work with Older People. Our Advocacy Services are free, confidential and impartial.

Age Concern Cheshire’s provides the following Advocacy Services:

• Mental Health Advocacy Service for older people
• Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA) Service for older people

Age Concern Cheshire is also one of four pilot sites for the Mental Capacity Advocacy Project (MCAP) with older people [previously known as the Mental Health Advocacy Project (MHAP) for older people - see attached information sheet for background on the project]. The name was recently changed to more accurately reflect the work undertaken by the pilot as the project is about mental capacity rather than mental health. Older people may lack capacity due to a mental health problem but may also lack capacity due to another illness or condition; e.g. stroke, brain injury and learning disabilities.

The Mental Capacity Advocacy Project (MCAP) provides an independent advocacy service delivered by trained local volunteers focusing on the empowerment and protection of older people who may lack mental capacity (yet who are not eligible for support from the statutory IMCA service). The trained volunteers work closely with the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and in accordance with the Code of Practice. They gather information from a variety of sources including the different people involved in the life of the older person. The advocacy work is centred on what the individual’s rights are and what their wishes are or may have been. The volunteers work to raise awareness of the issues that such older people face and seek to improve the services they receive.

Further project information can be obtained from the national Age Concern website at http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern/mhap.asp

To discuss referrals to the local MCAP project, please contact Rachel Slack at Age Concern Cheshire on Tel: 01606 305004 or email: advocacy@ageconcerncheshire.org.uk.