Conversations with Vulnerable People is an online facilitated course, which is designed to provide training for employees in front and second line roles who need to be able to recognise and respond to vulnerabilities.

Being able to recognise vulnerabilities and to respond to individual situations is becoming even more important as the rapidly rising cost of living creates new vulnerabilities for our customers such as debt or lower financial resilience while making other situations such as illness, abuse or de-stabilising life events more difficult to manage.

The FCA’S “Guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers” published in February 2021 requires that firms should ensure that their staff have the skills and capability to recognise and respond to the needs of vulnerable customers to achieve good outcomes for them and the recent FCA letter to financial services CEO's in June 2022 on supporting customers affected by the rising cost of living has reinforced their expectations.

The course will be delivered digitally over two half-days and will be led by an expert Samaritans facilitator using a variety of tools to encourage interaction and group learning.  This course will help participants to:

• Identify factors that can create vulnerability.
• Assess emotional health using the Emotional Health Scale. 
• Recognise signs of vulnerability in others.
• Explore and practice active listening skills.
• End conversations sensitively and effectively.
• Signpost people to sources of additional support

Who should attend?
This course is aimed at anyone who has contact with vulnerable customers, service users – or colleagues – on a daily basis; and will help them to manage those conversations effectively with confidence and sensitivity. 

(Registration closes at 17:00 on Friday, 12 September 2025)
Cancellation policy

"The course was fantastic and well structured.  I learnt a lot from Chris and from other participants, and I am excited to share with my colleagues the techniques and information that I have learnt."

"Chris Kenny is absolutely brilliant! A great trainer, one of the best I have had."

"The course content was useful and real to help in day to day not just in work but life. The content was real and useful."

"Brilliant!  Was really friendly and comfortable environment to discuss what can be a very difficult subject.  Never was forced to do anything I didn’t want to do which encouraged me to join in more."

(Delegate feedback from our 2024 courses)

This course is also being held on 25 and 26 March 2025 - further details can be found here