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Wellington Welfare Guardianship Trust

Logo for Wellington Welfare Guardianship Trust

The Wellington Welfare Guardian Trust has been set up to train and support volunteers to act as Welfare Guardians for people who lack capacity and have no Enduring Power of Attorney in place and no one willing or able to be their Welfare Guardian. The role of the Welfare Guardian is to make decisions in relation to health and welfare (and not property and money) for the subject person. The largest groups of people that this might apply to are the elderly and those with an intellectual disability. There are clear guidelines to decide whether a person has the capacity to make health and welfare decisions for themselves that centre around the ability to: - understand the nature of the decision and its significance for them - retain relevant and essential information to make the decision, - weigh and consider possible options and the consequences and - communicate their decision. If a person lacks capacity for a particular decision those caring for them are unable to follow through on for example a decision to move from hospital to a rest home, without one of three options being in place. The first option that it is a good idea for everyone to have in place is an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA). This is where the subject person whilst they still had full capacity appointed someone to act as their agent either on Health and Welfare decisions or Property decisions, in the event they lose capacity. This power is enacted when an appropriate assessment has found that the subject person lacks capacity. The second option is that short term orders can be granted by the court for specific issues such as medical treatment. The third option is that the court can appoint a Welfare Guardian to act as the agent for the subject person. The current problem our community has is that there are some people who have lost capacity, who have no EPOA, and who have no-one willing or able to be their Welfare Guardian. The Wellington Welfare Guardian Trust is therefore seeking suitable people willing to volunteer to be trained to fulfil this function when applications are received from the carers of subject persons.