TWO simple words describe the key role of a pioneering organisation set up to help people with mental ill health.

A voice.

“That sums up what we do,” says Sharon Cullerton, director of Bradford and Airedale Mental Health Advocacy Group (BAMHAG). “We work with people to support them, to ensure they have a voice and that that voice is heard.”

Set up in 1989, the group offers support to people in a range of health and social care settings, from hospital to the community, assisting them with situations such as doctors’ and hospital appointments, meetings with housing providers or benefits agencies. They also write letters for people and make phone calls, relieving them of the stress of constantly chasing things up.

“We also help those who want to make a complaint against the NHS,” adds Sharon.

Having such assistance is invaluable to people who may be lacking confidence or are uncertain how to deal with officialdom.

BAMHAG has grown into one of the UK’s longest-standing providers of user-led mental health advocacy work, and this year it celebrates 25 years in the district.

“We may help someone at a meeting or a tribunal at which some people may feel ill at ease,” says Peter Tytarenko, BAMHAG’s independent mental capacity advocate, who is also responsible for organising volunteers. “It is good for people to feel they have someone on their side, to give them confidence.”

He cites an example of a visit to the doctor by a patient who wished to change his medication. “I went with him and the doctor carried out his wishes. The patient thanked me, but I said I hadn’t done anything. He replied that when he went alone the doctor would write his prescription even before he sat down, and he would have ended up with the same medication as always.”

Many people suffering mental ill health feel they are often judged by it. Over the years BAMHAG user Julie (not her real name) has developed a mistrust of health professionals. “I have very little trust of doctors, psychiatrists, and others,” she says, “I suffer from depression and many of them link every other problem I may have to that, even if it is a physical one. I feel they don’t listen to me. They have not looked beyond the fact that I have depression.”

“This is one of the reasons why advocacy is so important,” says Sara Firth, service user link and liaison officer. “People are treated differently when they have someone with them.”

The group, which is also a registered charity, was founded by a number of patients at Bradford’s Lynfield Mount Hospital, who were questioned about their experiences of the support they received both in and out of hospital. They had never been asked before and decided then to develop a service to help people with mental ill health to speak up for themselves.

BAMHAG has influenced national policy, and contributed to the Care Act 2014.

The fact the service is user-led is vital to its success, says BAMHAG deputy director Katy Tate. “There has been a movement across the country for professional advocacy. We are one of the few small, user-led advocacy services remaining. We employ service users and carers – people who have experience of mental health services and who understand what it means to have a voice. No matter how articulate you are, when you walk into a room for a meeting or for whatever reason, you still don’t feel comfortable.

“We are still in a situation where mental health service users and carers are not listened to as the experts of their condition.”

A combination of the effects of illness and medication, and constantly feeling disempowered and ignored, can have a marked effect upon confidence, says Peter. “Sometimes, even simple tasks like going to the local shop for a paper is difficult.

“Even if someone does not get what they want, the fact that they are being heard and have been able to speak and be heard can take the frustration away.”

The group has a well-developed training programme for service users and carer volunteers who want to work with them as advocates and befrienders. Julie has worked as a befriender in the past, helping people who feel isolated and excluded.

“This has helped many people to develop the confidence to go on to employment and further education,” says Sara. “People can relate to us. They tell us things that perhaps they would not tell a health professional.”

The group, which received a national award for Positive Practice in Mental Health, is supported by a mixture of locally-commissioned and charitable trust funds, and is continually developing new sources of income. They receive many donations, along with letters of thanks.

Says Peter: “Volunteers often say that helping is not only very satisfying, they are turning a negative to a positive.”

For more about Bradford and Airedale Mental Health Advocacy Group go to bamhag.org.uk or call 01274 770118