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Young advocates use their experiences to help others

Young people from South Wales have been presented with awards for becoming peer advocates at a ceremony in the Senedd.

The ten young people participating in this pilot, from Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, and Torfaen, will be the first in Wales to hold a peer advocacy qualification.

Advocacy is not only about complaints and advice. While advocacy may sometimes include both, it is more about listening and ensuring the wishes and feelings of children and young people are heard regardless of whether the advocate agrees or not.

Advocacy is a process which helps someone to speak up for themselves, but it can also include explaining, empowering, representing and navigating complex systems and procedures. The peer advocates may draw on their own experiences to help other young people.

The pilot has been funded by a Children and Families Organisation Grant (CFOG) from the Welsh Government and has been delivered by the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) Cymru.

The Deputy Minister for Children and Social Services said:

“Children and young people time and time again tell us about the value that they place on advocacy support and how it can ‘change their lives’ for the better. 

“It is therefore a real pleasure to celebrate the achievements of these young people who have trained as peer advocates.  We know that children and young people at times feel more comfortable talking to someone the same age as them rather than adults. 

“Children and young people should expect to be protected from harm, to have services like schools and things to do outside school, to be listened to when they are not happy, to have an opinion and be involved in decisions that affect them. It is our job to ensure that this happens.

“We have always held firm our belief that children’s rights are essential to improving outcomes for children and young people. We signed up to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and most recently, we have introduced a law that means that we have to consider children’s rights when we develop new policy or legislation."

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