Rethink Mental Illness
Advocate
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Location: Field Based – Wandsworth & Richmond
Contract: Permanent, Full Time – 35 Hours
Salary: £26,457 (plus £3000 London Allowance)
DBS Check: Enhanced with Adults
Make sure every voice is heard.
At Rethink Advocacy, we believe everyone deserves to have their rights respected, their views listened to, and their voice heard. As an Advocate, you'll play a vital role in empowering people to understand their options, navigate complex systems, and influence decisions that affect their lives.
This is an opportunity to join a dedicated advocacy team supporting people across Wandsworth and Richmond. Working independently in the community, you'll meet people in a variety of settings including hospitals, care homes, supported living services, secure facilities and people's own homes. You'll be trusted to manage your own diary, organise client visits and deliver outstanding advocacy support where it matters most.
About The Role
As an experienced or qualified Advocate, you'll manage your own caseload and provide statutory and non-statutory advocacy, focusing on IMCA and Care Act cases.
You'll work alongside people who may be facing some of the most important decisions of their lives, helping them:
- Understand their rights and choices.
- Have their views represented and heard.
- Access information in a way that works for them.
- Participate in care, treatment and support decisions.
- Navigate legal and health and social care frameworks.
- Build confidence and develop self-advocacy skills wherever possible.
No two days are the same. You'll balance client meetings, report writing, safeguarding responsibilities, promotion of advocacy services and collaborative working with professionals and stakeholders across the local area.
What You'll Be Doing
- Managing a diverse and rewarding advocacy caseload.
- Delivering both instructed and non-instructed advocacy.
- Supporting people to understand and exercise their rights.
- Preparing high-quality reports and case records.
- Identifying and responding appropriately to safeguarding concerns.
- Promoting advocacy services to professionals, communities and service users.
- Participating in reflective practice, supervision and ongoing development.
- Supporting volunteers, students and trainee advocates where required.
What We're Looking For
We're looking for someone who is passionate about empowerment, inclusion and making a genuine difference to people's lives.
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You'll Have
- A Level 2 Award in Independent Advocacy and willingness to complete the Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice qualification, or an existing Level 3 National Advocacy Qualification or Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice qualification.
- Experience delivering advocacy services in a paid or voluntary capacity.
- Knowledge of advocacy principles and relevant legislation.
- Experience managing a caseload effectively and independently.
- Excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
- A person-centred approach and the ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds and with a range of communication needs.
- Strong organisational and IT skills.
- The ability to travel throughout the Wandsworth and Richmond area and occasionally elsewhere in England for work-related activities.
Why join Rethink Mental Illness?
You'll be joining a supportive organisation that values professional development, reflective practice and continuous learning, while making a real impact in the lives of people affected by mental illness and other complex circumstances.
Ready to apply?
If you're an advocate who is passionate about rights, empowerment and ensuring people are heard when it matters most, we'd love to hear from you.
Join us and help create a society where everyone has the opportunity to live the life they want.
Why Work With Rethink Mental Illness?
Benefits
At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe that when you feel supported, you can make the biggest difference. That’s why we offer a range of benefits to help you thrive:
- Inclusive Culture: Join staff networks that champion diversity and inclusion.
- Wellbeing Support: Access our Wellbeing Hub, Employee Assistance Programme, and the Unmind mental health app.
- Recognition & Rewards: Enjoy discounts, cashback offers, and celebrate achievements through our PULSE platform.
- Flexible Working & Generous Leave: Starting at 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays and your birthday off), with options to buy or sell extra days.
- Learning & Development: Grow your career with structured onboarding and training opportunities.
- Financial & Family Support: Contributory pension scheme, enhanced family leave, and travel benefits like season ticket loans and cycle-to-work schemes.
- Referral Bonus: Earn up to £300 for introducing someone to our team.
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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Diversity is important to us, and we appreciate difference through inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer. We recognise and support staff networks and support groups for our ethnically diverse and LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.
We aim for our workforce to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve; for those who work for us to feel heard, valued and feel they belong; and for our work to help tackle wider mental health inequalities. We therefore actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including applicants with lived experience of mental illness, those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and any other gender identity not expressed here (LGBTQIA+); people who are neurodiverse, have a health condition, or a disability or hidden disability and people from an ethnically diverse background - regardless of your age, religious or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, political view or socio-economic status.
Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation
We have an ambition of becoming a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement. We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrates our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.
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