Rethink Mental Illness
Trainee Advocate
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Location: Field Based – Wandsworth & Richmond Contract: Permanent, Part Time – 15.75 Hours Salary: £10,807.06 (plus £1350 London Allowance) DBS Check: Enhanced with Adults
Looking for a career where you can make a real difference? At Rethink Advocacy, we believe everyone deserves to have their voice heard. As a Trainee Advocate, you'll support people to understand their rights, make informed choices and have a greater say in decisions that affect their lives. This is a unique opportunity to start a career in advocacy while receiving structured training, professional development and support towards becoming a qualified Advocate.
Working across Wandsworth & Richmond, you'll support people in a variety of settings including hospitals, care homes, supported living services, secure facilities and people's own homes. Every day will bring new challenges, new learning opportunities and the chance to make a meaningful impact.
About the role
This is an ideal opportunity for someone who is passionate about empowering others and wants to build a career in advocacy.
As a Trainee Advocate, you'll be supported to enrol on and complete the Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice Qualification, with protected study time and a structured development pathway. You'll work alongside experienced advocates, shadowing and learning from them before gradually managing your own caseload and provide statutory and non-statutory advocacy, focusing on IMCA and Care Act cases.
You'll receive training in a range of advocacy remits and develop the skills and confidence to:
- Support people to understand and exercise their rights.
- Help individuals have their views, wishes and preferences heard.
- Empower people to participate in decisions about their care and support.
- Deliver both instructed and non-instructed advocacy.
- Promote independence and self-advocacy wherever possible.
- Understand key legislation and frameworks that affect the people we support.
You'll manage your own diary, organise client visits and maintain high-quality case records while being fully supported through supervision, reflective practice and ongoing training.
Following successful completion of the Level 4 qualification, you'll progress into a qualified Advocate role.
What you'll be doing
- Learning how to deliver high-quality statutory and non-statutory advocacy services.
- Building positive professional relationships with the people you support.
- Managing and developing your own advocacy caseload.
- Preparing accurate reports and case records.
- Identifying and responding to safeguarding concerns.
- Working collaboratively with health and social care professionals.
- Delivering awareness sessions and promoting advocacy services within local communities.
- Participating in training, supervision and reflective practice sessions.
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Who we're looking for
You don't need previous advocacy qualifications to apply. We're looking for people with the right values, attitude and potential to grow.
You'll have:
- A willingness to complete the Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice Qualification and additional advocacy modules as required.
- Transferable skills, lived experience, voluntary experience or professional experience that demonstrate your ability to build relationships and support others.
- A passion for empowerment, inclusion and social justice.
- Excellent communication and listening skills.
- The ability to work with people from a wide range of backgrounds and with differing communication needs.
- Good organisational skills and confidence using IT systems and Microsoft Office.
- The ability to work independently while also being part of a supportive team.
- The ability to travel throughout Wandsworth & Richmond and occasionally elsewhere in England for work-related activities.
Why join Rethink Mental Illness?
When you join us, you're joining a charity that's leading the way in improving the lives of people severely affected by mental illness and championing the rights of vulnerable people.
You'll benefit from:
- A structured career pathway into qualified advocacy.
- Funded Level 4 Independent Advocacy Practice Qualification.
- Protected study time and ongoing professional development.
- Regular supervision, reflective practice and support.
- A flexible, field-based role with autonomy and responsibility.
- The opportunity to make a genuine difference every day.
Our CARES Values
If these values resonate with you and you're passionate about helping people have their voices heard, we'd love to hear from you.
Ready to start your advocacy career?
Join Rethink Mental Illness and help ensure that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, has the opportunity to be listened to, understood and empowered.
Why Work With Rethink Mental Illness?
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 become 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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