Hi, my name is Christie McDove and I’m the newest member of the Edinburgh Collective Advocacy team!
I have a background in youth work and qualifications in Public Sociology and Gender Studies. I am looking forward to using all I have learned along with my own lived experience to work collaboratively to amplify voices and drive change!
In this exciting role I’ll be focusing on widening access to Collective Advocacy across Edinburgh. I am delighted to get to contribute to the well-established work already happening within CAPS throughout the city. This includes this year’s People’s Conference planned for the start of October. The conference will look at prevention and how we manage our mental health whilst waiting for services. There’s also ongoing work feeding into the upcoming review of Community Mental Health Teams in Edinburgh. We’ll also be making sure that lived experience helps shape ‘I-thrive’, Edinburgh’s online space for mental health and wellbeing information.
My work to widen access to Collective Advocacy for people in Edinburgh is funded by an Improving Access Fund grant from the Scottish Government managed by Inspiring Scotland. This new role enables CAPS to work with disadvantaged people in Edinburgh that we previously did not have the capacity to work with. Collective Advocacy is a way to challenge the power imbalances we experience in our lives. An example of a new piece of work is a Collective Advocacy space for people with Autism and ADHD, open to anyone who has lived experience of these issues. By working together we can make sure that services provide what we need and we are listened to when we speak out. Widening access also means breaking down the barriers that people from marginalised communities may experience in accessing services. I look forward to welcoming new people from Edinburgh’s diverse communities to Collective Advocacy! Whether Collective Advocacy is new to you, or you’ve been involved before, I would encourage you to get in touch.
If you would like to get involved or if you have thoughts and ideas about Collective Advocacy work that you would like to see happening in Edinburgh, please do get in touch. I’m really keen to hear from people and to start making connections, finding ways to raise awareness of Collective Advocacy and how we can increase access to it across the city.
If you would like to get a chance to say hello and chat about Collective Advocacy and my new role at any point, we can work something out either to visit here at Norton Park or online. Coming to Norton Park you’ll get a warm welcome from the CAPS team.
I’m looking forward to meeting you!
Find out more about Edinburgh Collective Advocacy
