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Information, Advice & Guidance

What is IAG?
Our large part of our work in the community is providing Information, Advice and Guide (IAG) to help people make informed decisions about their future or to get the best possible assistance they need with different aspects of day-to-day living.  This might be information, advice or guidance related to:
  • income and benefits entitlements
  • housing
  • managing debt
  • education and training
  • employment
When you meet a member of our team, they will have your best interests in mind and seek to provide the best possible support from the start for you to move forward in your life or try and resolve an issue you may be having.  This might include giving you:

 

  • Information : Factual data, sources of information, leaflets and websites about the options and services available to you.
  • Advice : Recommendations about different pathways or options based on your circumstances or experience or qualifications
  • Guidance : Ongoing regular support over a period of time, including training or coaching to help you move through a training course or explore options, personal goals or a number of issues in your life.
Collecting Information about you
When we first meet you, our project worker or other team member will aim to gather some information about you and either your goals and aspirations or the current issues for which you need some information, advice or guidance.  We will have a discussion with you and may ask you to complete a paper or online form which will ask for the information:
  • full name
  • date of birth
  • address
  • telephone number, e.g. mobile
  • email address
  • ethnicity
  • sex, e.g. male/female
  • residential status
We will then aim to find out and record:
  • your current living arrangements, including your family or anybody you live with
  • your current employment or goals for gaining employment
  • any issues you are facing, e.g. homelessness, debt, poor housing, benefits applications, food poverty, mental health
  • changes or improvements in your life that you would like to see in the short-term (weeks or months) or longer-term (next year or after)
  • your goals and aspirations for the future
Next Steps : Priorities
Once we have discussed with you the issues you are facing and/or your goals and aspirations for the immediate or long-term future, our adviser will help you to:
  • set some priorities - actions you might take and in what order you might do them
  • set some actions - things you can do quickly or in the long-term, either yourself or with our support
  • let you know of any support we can provide to you directly (our own team) or 
  • let you know of other agencies and places that can provide you with help and support and help you contact them, if needed
Ongoing Support
When we have helped you to set some priorities and actions for you to move forward, we will
  • provide help and assistance when you need it but hope that you will be able to complete some of the tasks yourself
  • help you to fill out forms, e.g. job applications or benefits applications
  • help you get online to be able to access online services or websites to look for jobs, etc.
  • help you access services such as food banks or other agencies who provide support
  • check that the actions you are taking, with support, are helping you move in the right direction and are having a positive impact
  • help you to reduce any barriers or issues you are facing when you are trying to access resources or support from other agencies
  • keep track and record any positive changes, e.g. successful benefits applications, gaining a job, accessing support services
  • listen to you, and adjust any plans or advice you may need
Celebrate Success
First and foremost, we want you to move forward with the things in your life that you want to change or improve for the better.  As we do that, it is important to recognise and celebrate the small steps you might take on your journey.  This may be:
  • completing a course
  • gaining a qualification
  • getting an interview for a job
  • accessing services and support from other agencies
  • getting a job
  • successes and achievements in your family
  • changes in your home or living circumstances.
However small, these successes will be important to recognise, even if you feel that you still have  a mountain to climb or issues to resolve.  Remember, it may take a while to achieve your goals and that you should take things step-by-step without becoming too stressed or overloaded to try and achieve everything at once.
Exit and Evaluation
Once you have achieved your goals or resolved some of the issues we have helped you with, with will ask you to think about the journey you have taken and identify any positive steps or improvement that you have made.  This could be being in a better financial position because you now have more benefits or paid work, or have found accommodation for your family or have accessed counselling or other services to help you with your mental health.  We simply would like to know what is better for you so that we know how much we have helped you or if there is more that we can do to support you in your next steps.  If you do not manage to achieve your goals or resolve your issues when working with us, we would like to know about that too so that know of any barriers or issues, including working us, that stopped you moving forward or achieving what you wanted to achieve.  It is important to us to know that we did all we could to help you or could have done things in a different way if the things we did to support you were not quite right.  Our aim is to help individuals achieve their goals and for people to leave our service behind with increased confidence and independence to face issues or goals in the future, knowing that support is always available from our organisation or other agencies.
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