Speak Out started in 1994 and registered as a charity in 1999. It has grown from one member of staff to a team of 7 part-time staff offering a wide range of advocacy to around 150 people each year.

Speak Out believes people with learning disabilities should have the support they need to do everyday things. They should have the same choices and control as everyone else.

• people with learning disabilities to claim their rights, and develop the skills, confidence and knowledge to make choices and take control of their lives

• people with learning disabilities to get support to speak up and be listened to

• services to change in a way that people with learning disabilities want

• the needs of people with learning disabilities to be included in local policies and public service plans

Speak Out supports people with learning disabilities to have more control over their lives by providing:

• Advocacy in groups: Speak Out supports 5 advocacy groups. These groups work together as a network to change services so that everyone benefits.

• Advocacy with individuals: around 50 different people get individual advocacy support each year.

• Training and raising awareness in services and communities: trainers with learning disabilities help a wide range of public service staff to understand how to make their services easier to use.

• Campaigning for changes in services and policies: Speak Out staff, and people in the advocacy groups, give their views about public service plans and policies. The advocacy groups raise issues with the Learning Disability Partnership Board, and with other managers and Members of Parliament who can change things.

• Being guided by people with learning disabilities
  People with learning disabilities advise our management committee.

• Supporting people with learning disabilities to speak up for themselves and show what is important to them
  People say or show what it is they want to change, and Speak Out supports them to ask for changes themselves whenever possible. Speak Out’s training work for outside organisations is done by people with learning disabilities. Most of the campaigning work is decided and done by people in the advocacy groups.

• Involving volunteers so as to increase community awareness and wider opportunities for people with learning disabilities
  Around 30 volunteer advocates and advocacy group supporters help staff do the work. They receive training and ongoing supervision, and are checked with CRB to ensure everyone is safe.

• Working with a wide range of people with learning disabilities
  We work with men and women of all ages, from many different cultural backgrounds, and with a range of disabilities. Because of this Speak Out is able to present a picture of the experiences of people from a wide and varied perspective.

• A service that is independent of other organisations and services
  Independence is crucial if we are to help services get better, criticising when necessary. We aim to raise funding from a variety of sources so that our long-term financial security is strengthened, and independence maintained. Management Committee members are not recruited from organisations who fund us.

• A good quality advocacy service
  7 part-time staff and 8 trustees manage the work and ensure that the charity meets all laws and provides good quality work. We measure this using PQASSO quality assurance system and Action 4 Advocacy standards.

If you would like to get involved by volunteering, or donating money, see our Get involved section.

Our publicity leaflet tells you about the different sorts of advocacy Speak Out does.

This tells you about the work of the Advocacy Groups Network and the Learning Disabilities Partnership Board.