There are many people who just need to know where to look for information or which organisation to contact, but there are also those who need more help and assistance with their problems. Quite often the most vulnerable people in our community don’t know where to get quality advice or lack the confidence to access it.
Advice First Aid is a proactive initiative aimed at training frontline workers and volunteers from other charities and organisations to become ‘advice first aiders’. These trusted people within our communities are then better able to identify and support those most in need of advice services.
If you’re a certified Advice First Aider click here to access the resources area
What’s an Advice First Aider?
Advice First Aiders serve as a critical link, connecting people in local communities with advice and the essential support services necessary to improve their situations.
Advice First Aiders don’t give advice themselves, but by asking the right questions they’re able to identify relevant information for self-help, signpost to appropriate organisations, and identify when to refer more urgent or complex advice cases to our qualified advisers and caseworkers. They then log the AFA interaction online.
How Advice First Aid helps
Advice First Aid focuses strongly on marginalised or vulnerable groups as we know they are less likely to access advice when it’s needed e.g. young people or people with learning difficulties, carers, LGBTQIA+, ethnic minorities, displaced people, and older or isolated people.
Beyond advice and crisis intervention, Advice First Aid also enables us to identify and take action to address the root causes of problems facing people in Somerset, through our policy and advocacy work.
From April 2024 to march 2025 we ran an Advice First Aid pilot in collaboration with Somerset Youth Work Alliance to create and deliver Advice First Aid training to a number of youth work organisations across the county. Using participant feedback we ‘fine-tuned’ our offer – to ensure it’s relevance and usefulness for all community partners.
Following on from the great feedback and success of delivering Advice First Aid to youth workers, we have secured funding to train people across the Hinkley Point C area to become Advice First Aiders. Our hope is to continue to source funding to roll out Advice First Aid training to other organisations working in community venues across Somerset.
Advice First Aid training
Our Advice First Aid training enables people in non-advice roles to gain the skills to become an advice first aider, it comprises a short study pack and a half-day workshop, covering:
- how to spot an advice issue,
- empowering self-help where possible,
- provide information and signposting support as needed,
- when and how to refer if full advice or specialist help is necessary.
When completed each participant receives a certificate and access to our Advice First Aid resources and recording area.
Find out more or get involved…
Get in touch and drop us an email at
[email protected]
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