The advocacy family/sector is very broad and takes pride on attracting people from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences.  There is no set pathway into advocacy, but there are City & Guilds training and formal qualifications you can complete.  If you want to work as a Statutory Advocate you will need to be qualified (although most people do these on the job' and there is no requirement that you are qualified before you start in an advocacy role).

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The most important thing in becoming an advocate is that you like people!  Organisations usually look for people who have values and skills like empathy and being non judgemental, rapport building, research skills, being able to speak up, helping people understand information and being able to see things from another persons perspective.  

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You might have lived experience of using health or care services, or caring for someone who does and want to use this experience to support others.  Or you might work in health and care services and want to use transferable skills in a new role.

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If you want to start in an Independent Advocacy role the best advice is to search locally for opportunities to work (either paid or unpaid) as an advocate.

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