Advocacy for Mental Health and Dementia (A4MHD), a charity that has provided advocacy for working age adults with mental health issues, and adults with a dementia, for over 15 years, is celebrating having received a grant worth £43,800 to extend their services to older adults experiencing poor mental health in Leeds.
The funding has been made by the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales through its Community Programme and will enable the charity to help older-people with a mental illness speak up regarding decisions about their care and treatment, or for those that are not accessing support services available to them across Leeds to have the information and support they need to do this. Since 2007 the Lloyds TSB Foundation has made grants worth over £1 million to charities tackling disadvantage in the area.
A4MHD was set up in 1992 by a group of local people who had suffered mental illness and wanted to ensure others like them could rely on and get the best out of their local mental health services. Now with a team of 11 staff, the charity works to ensure medical and social care professionals are fully aware of and respond to the individual needs of the mental health service users. Advocates can support people in any setting including at home or in hospital – dealing with a range of issues including care and treatment, access to services, employment problems, abuse, harassment, discrimination or other difficult situations.
Funding from the Lloyds TSB Foundation will allow people over 65 years old suffering from mental illness the benefit of independent advocacy support, to ensure they have the health and social care services they need and can effectively influence decisions about their future.
Annie French, Manager for A4MHD commented on the importance of the grant, “We have sought to plug this evident gap in mental health advocacy services in Leeds for a few years now and are delighted to now be able to positively respond to the numerous requests for advocacy we receive from older people experiencing mental distress each year. Older People increasingly suffer poor mental health and this can be a time when people experience real loss of autonomy. Advocacy is there to support people to maintain some control over decisions which affect their lives, challenge discrimination, or to navigate the confusing world of health and social care services. We anticipate this new aspect of our service to make a big difference to then lives of people who access it.”
Lloyds TSB Foundation grant manager for Yorkshire, Pat Greenwood, added, “It was clear from my visit to A4MHD that the charity is dramatically changing the lives of people with mental health problems every day across Leeds. The Lloyds TSB Foundation is delighted to support this work.”
To find out more about the support available from A4MHD please visit their website www.advocacy4mentalhealth-dementia.org.uk.
