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Our latest 20 minute episode focuses on the issue of dependency, addictions, and what essential services can do to support customers with drug, alcohol, gambling, or other related problems.

Jamie Compton-Rea explains to Chris Fitch about the steps that services can take, and just what is realistic and effective action in such dependency situations. Find out more about Jamie at his upcoming course on addiction and essential services at www.moneyadvicetrust.org/training and follow the link titled 'addictions'.

Our latest 20 minute episode focuses on the more than 5 million unpaid UK carers who are supporting someone with a physical, mental health, or old-age related problem. Trevor Salomon explains to Chris Fitch about the reality and impact of being an unpaid carer to his wife Yvonne (diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2013), and how essential services can better identify and support carers.

Find out more about Trevor and Yvonne at https://uk01.z.antigena.com/l/LVTCyv5xA3zInZmZsWhCgC54AfGguVgMXnQEEEky96GQy4tBR1NRt~rcSQbiRj~y2qoVYYK7wjhgM7yTgCFfmTaV8jq0pP2S-vnfnSHcM2QwRm5ZPRyJd~nfDvl03HNQLWFVXyv3B7pp5DG3PmuxqcXFN-3dvXZc5BXJkwimS4pBwoeWL7KshOU6N6vifhNQggoJxzx5fit6aULebGH0CaSOaYvac-QdkjUrG6DsZ3wR-71cdCOnArg~MJzs-0fKM8KXDq~erS0j00D7UX9Nj3qMLc , and access the Alzheimer’s Society guides for essential services at: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/get-involved/dementia-friendly-resources/organisations/resources

In the UK, half a million older people report going 5-6 days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone, while a younger cohort aged 16-29 are now reporting loneliness twice as much as those over 70.

So in this episode, Chris Fitch spoke to Amy Perrin from the only charity in the UK dedicated to tackling loneliness: the Marmalade Trust (named after Paddington Bear’s friendly qualities). Chris asked Amy about the extent of loneliness across the UK, what types of support essential services can realistically give to people who are lonely, and just how we can start a conversation about loneliness from scratch.

Amy Perrin:
www.linkedin.com/in/amy-perrin-marmaladetrust
| Marmalade Trust:
www.marmaladetrust.org/stats
| Loneliness Awareness Week (10-16th June):
www.lonelinessawarenessweek.org

In this episode, we focus on the 1-in-5 UK consumers living with some form of facial or bodily scarring, mark, or condition that makes them look or feel significantly different.

Known as ‘visible difference’, our host Chris Fitch talks to Sudha Vijay from the charity Changing Faces about her experiences as a consumer with visible difference, while Jane Rodrick and Michaela Baker explain the approach that Lloyds Banking Group staff are taking in branches and face-to-face contact with customers like Sudha.

Around 12 million UK adults - 1-in-every-5 of our customers - are living with hearing loss which makes following speech and conversations difficult. Inclusion specialist Tim Scannell – profoundly deaf and a BSL user – joins Chris Fitch to discuss improvements to essential service design and operation, and what can be done to avoid customers with hearing loss feeling overlooked, forgotten, or treated as an ‘after-thought’ by our services.
More on Tim’s work is at www.timscannell.co.uk and www.linkedin.com/in/tim-scannell. You can also watch this podcast with BSL interpretation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OB_NeZLOFU&feature=youtu.be

Everyone is talking about the importance of ‘lived experience’ and ‘experts by experience’, but what exactly do these phrases mean?  Just how do we practically involve people with this experience in our work? And what difference does it all make anyway?

Answering these questions is researcher, writer, and lived experience expert Dan Holloway (from Oxford University spin-out Rogue Interrobang), and asking them is our host Chris Fitch.