The Value of Lived Experience and Experiential Labs: Bridging the Gap in Understanding Vulnerable Circumstances

13 October 2023

This week’s blog comes to you on World Sight Day and at the end of Arthritis Awareness Week 2023. Whilst there are many organisations raising awareness of sight loss or visual impairment or living with arthritis who we wholeheartedly support, we have found that simply telling people about a vulnerable circumstance of set of characteristics of vulnerability doesn’t always garner the understanding and empathetic responses firms may be hoping for. Sharing information and experience delivers a more long-lasting and impactful outcome and so we use a combination of techniques in our work with organisations looking to better understand vulnerability. We’ve created a set of Info Cards which share key stats and facts about living with various conditions (all sourced from the NHS), but we also utilise lived experience and experiential labs. In this blog, we will explore the significant value of using lived experience and experiential labs to improve awareness and understanding of vulnerable circumstances.

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The Rising Cost of School Uniforms in the UK: An Unaffordable Necessity

04 September 2023

It’s that time of year in England when social media news feeds are filled with pictures of children standing by their front doors wearing their school uniform as they head back to school. But those uniforms have been causing me concerns.

Earlier in the summer, I read this BBC news article about Parent’s giving up their family holiday, due the need to save for school uniform costs. This article reports that parents are spending approximately £422 on Secondary, and £287 on Primary uniforms – not including branded items which cost more. As mum to three children, the rising cost of school uniforms has not escaped me.

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Our latest infographic – Financial Vulnerability in the UK - published as Consumer Duty goes live

31 July 2023

Consumer Duty from the Financial Conduct Authority is now in place, so it seems like the appropriate time to share our latest infographic about the uphill climb faced by many vulnerable customers experiencing financial vulnerability in the UK. The FCAs’ Financial Lives survey from May 2022 showed a significant increase in the number of UK adults experiencing low financial resilience – up to “1 in 4 (24%) of all UK adults who could quickly find themselves in difficulty if they suffer a financial shock”. The FCA advised that “this result is much worse that we recorded in our February 2020 Financial Lives survey”.

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Why Refresher Training Is Important

27 June 2023

The Consumer Duty requirements from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are now just weeks away from the first implementation date for new and current products and with it brings a renewed focus on vulnerable customers. FCA regulated firms are now required to ensure that vulnerable customers receive the same ‘good’ outcomes as non-vulnerable customers and firms must be able to evidence this. 

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