Every day we make choices and decisions, however small, that affect us personally. Most people take it for granted that they will be directly involved in these decisions and that their views and wishes will be taken seriously. However, there are people for whom this does not happen.

There may be a number of reasons for this, including language or comprehension difficulties, social isolation, health problems or being labelled as someone incapable of forming their own opinion, perhaps because they have a learning difficulty or dementia.

Oxfordshire Advocacy Development Group (OADG) responds to this need by providing trained and supported volunteer advocates to work with individuals to enable them to say what they want and ensure this is heard by those concerned.

Gill Howe, a trustee of OADG, said: "This can make a real difference to the individuals' circumstances through increasing their self-confidence, helping them to feel less invisible and to know that they too have rights and entitlements."

OADG runs three schemes. One is for people who need help with a short-term issue or a crisis; one for people with learning disabilities, and one for people of any age with dementia.

In the latter two schemes advocates will spend longer getting to know the person they are helping so they can find out their views and wishes before supporting them to be heard.

Recently, OADG has helped an elderly person to have her request for a transfer to a residential home nearer her family acted upon. It also helped someone whose medical records were inaccurate to have that information corrected.

It also supported a mother with a learning disability to work constructively with the children's services rather than having her child taken into care.

Volunteers attend a four-day training course before starting to advocate and are then supported and supervised throughout their work. The initial training course leads to a formally recognised qualification accredited by the Open College Network.

Gill said: "Our volunteers come from all walks of life, starting at 18 with no upper age limit. For some people the training and qualification has proved a useful addition to their CV and helped them find paid employment.

"Other volunteers come from businesses or public bodies that support their employees to become involved in voluntary work."

People who have used the advocacy service have made comments like: "I felt less on the front line when facing the indifference of authority," and "My advocate helped me to get clear what I wanted to say at the meeting - and I SAID IT!"

For further information contact Nigel Parsons, OADG manager, on 01865 741200 or email oadg@oadg.org.uk or look at the website www.oadg.org.uk To contribute to this column, contact Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action by email at voluntaryvoice@ocva.org.uk