Shaben makes her voice heard with MBE award

She has been recognised in the New Year's Honours list for her services to health care over the last decade.

The SIAA provides support to advocacy organisations. Independent advocates safeguard people who are vulnerable or discriminated against by speaking for them and influencing services and legislation on their behalf.

SIAA was set up in 2003 as a result of the work undertaken by its predecessor, Advocacy 2000, a project set up to look at the needs of the advocacy movement and how these could be supported.

Born in Pakistan and raised in Birmingham, Ms Begum has spent the majority of her time working for advocacy services, specialising in mental health issues.

She said: "I got a letter from someone at the cabinet office back in November asking if I would accept. I was shocked. I'm still in shock. My family, friends and colleagues are all excited, but I still can't believe it."

Since Ms Begum has been honoured, the tributes have flooded in. MSP Shona Robison, Minister for Public Health, said: "This honour reflects the longstanding commitment to the principles of independent advocacy and the importance of the SIAA in providing a strong national voice for organisations in this sector."

Dr Donald Lyons, director of Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, added: "We are delighted to hear of Shaben's MBE. She has made a great contribution to improving the quality of accessibility of advocacy across Scotland. We offer her our sincerest congratulations."

The recognition shows that independent advocacy is important to both the Scottish and UK governments, a situation which Ms Begum has played a role in developing and growing.

She began her career in the health service by working for the advocacy service at Rampton hospital, Nottingham, from 1998 until 2000.

She moved to Scotland in 2000 when she was appointed manager of the Patients Advocacy Service at the state hospital, Carstairs, South Lanarkshire.

She was then appointed the director of the SIAA in 2002 and has spent nine years working to grow and establish the organisation. She said: "We want to make sure that as many people as possible have access to advocacy. Hopefully, now that I have been recognised, it will help to raise our profile.

"With a broken leg it's easy to spot the problem but with things like mental health and learning difficulties it's not so obvious. There is a stigma attached to this type of thing and we want to help those people get heard."