St Andrew’s First Aid did a workshop with us as part of our Peer Support programme. We talk to Daniel from St Andrew’s First Aid to find out more about the charity
Can you tell us a bit more about St Andrew’s First Aid?
St Andrew’s First Aid is Scotland’s main first aid charity. We want to help people learn first aid. We do a range of different work. For example, we do workplace training for businesses across Scotland. As part of this, people can get a first aid qualification.
People pay for the training. The profits from the training go to the charity. This means that we can teach basic first aid classes for free! We do these in schools, community groups and other charities.
Our work is supported by volunteers. They give their time to make sure anyone in Scotland can have the chance to learn first aid. And they make sure people can access the learning they need.
You’re a Community Engagement Administrator. Can you tell us more about what that means?
I look after the requests that come in to St Andrew’s First Aid. They might be from schools, community groups or charities. I work with the volunteers to do as many of the requests as possible.
My favourite part of the role is raising awareness of our free sessions with different groups. For example, some community groups might not know much about first aid. Or they might not be able to access learning easily.
How can people get involved with St Andrew’s First Aid?
If you are interested in finding out more about the work the Community Engagement team does, then visit our page here:
If you are interested in exploring our volunteering opportunities, then visit our page here:
If you are under 16, then check out our youth groups here:
What resources can people look at to find out more?
Take a look at our Community Engagement Learning resources page here:
This has a range of content you can read, listen, watch, or download. We also have some resources in different languages.
In this creative feature, we have photography from someone supported by Future Pathways.
These are examples of multiple exposure photography. This means making a photograph from more than one picture. We also find out more about the creative process.
“The project is about being multiple. At first, the pictures might look a bit random, but they’re really intentional — and that’s an important word in photography. Like us. Many of us were made intentionally by trauma. We’re showing truth in layers.
They show that we can lean into the ugly truths, and that some kinds of beauty can come from it. Hopefully the photographs help people feel — and maybe they can also give some hope to others going through hard times, that creating can be a way through.
Lots of us see the results before the shots are taken. The picture is already ‘there’ before the lens. Sometimes the photo ends up looking that way, sometimes it doesn’t — but more and more, it does now.
Working more with film especially has been different — more challenging, because it means slowing down and trusting the process. Not running ahead in a flee response. Waiting, seeing, and accepting whatever develops.
We’ve not had any formal education (school or photography) — everything has come through trying, failing, and finding our way. Learning as we go has worked best. It means the work isn’t about following rules, but about making something real.
It’s also been important having supportive relationships with other photographers. Sharing, learning, and being encouraged has helped us grow, and it makes the process less lonely. That kind of support, alongside the photography itself, has made a huge difference.”
Get creative in the kitchen! ND, who is registered with Future Pathways, shares his recipes with us. Made alongside his friend SN.
Below we have the recipe for banana bread. You can download the booklet which has recipes for:
- Banana bread
- Carrot cake
- Quick pizza
- Leek and potato gratin
- Creamy chicken and mushroom soup
- Easy chicken noodle soup
- Rhubarb custard tart
Banana bread
Ingredients:
100 grams, soft butter
175 grams, caster sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 tablespoons of milk
You will also need a loaf tin, one that is about 17cm x 9cm x 9cm.
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 350F / gas mark 4. Lightly grease the loaf tin with a little bit of butter and line it with non-stick baking paper. Set aside.
1. Put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Beat them together for about 2 minutes until they are blended well. You can use an electric mixer or do it by hand with a wooden spoon.
2. Spoon the mixture into the tin and make sure the top of the mixture is level.
3. Bake for about 1 hour, until it is well risen and golden brown. When you put a knife or a skewer into the loaf, it should come out clean.
4. Take the loaf out of the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for a few minutes.
5. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn the loaf out.
6. Remove the lining paper and leave the loaf to cool on a wire rack.
7. Serve the loaf in thick slices.
Looking for more recipes? Check out ‘A Taste for Flavour’, with recipes for cookies, soups, pasta and more.
Rikki shares his experience of volunteering with different groups and projects. He talks about two projects at Future Pathways – Making Pathways Together and Voices for a Better Future. He also shares his experience of opening up at Andy’s Man Club. And about advocating for support with Stroke Association and Stroke Awareness Month.
Please note that the article contains a reference to suicide.
Voices for a Better Future
To be perfectly honest with you, and with everyone I’ve met around the desks and tables, my induction felt like putting on a new pair of slippers. Comfortable, familiar, and quietly life-changing.
After bouncing back from a dark and lonely chapter of my own choosing, I found myself, at the age of 58, under the umbrella of Future Pathways. And that felt safe. I got involved with a group called Making Pathways Together.
One of our first tasks was to design a front page of a newspaper. My headline was a photograph of my great-grandmother from 1893, dressed in her Sunday best with her children. Alongside it, a photo of me and my three brothers from 1963, also in our Sunday best, taken at the Glasgow Barras.
The contrast struck me: in 70 years, children’s lives hadn’t necessarily improved. Perhaps because the grandmother had once been the matriarch, the anchor.
When I spoke about changing the status quo, my voice cracked. Four members of the group responded, saying I couldn’t have spoken a truer word. That moment made it easy to come up with the name Voices for a Better Future.
The rest followed naturally. To celebrate our third birthday felt emotionally taxing like having a child of my own.
Andy’s Man Club
Having a stroke was a scenario I didn’t see coming. It took me three days to accept that I was entering a new chapter one that would change me inside and out, in both the waking world and the quiet corners of my mind. I took the pain and the loneliness and ran with it.
Learning to walk again felt like mimicking a Madagascar monkey but I’ve always found it easy to laugh at myself. After three months and two hospitals, I was discharged. Six weeks of shouting at the care I was receiving led me to discharge the early discharge team myself.
Then came a turning point: a visit from the wellbeing team. As she was walking out the door, she asked if I’d ever heard of Andy’s Man Club. That weekend, I read everything I could about the charity. By Monday morning, I was asking to join a Zoom meeting.
It was a wake-up call. Anger and frustration were still flowing from my pores, but what I heard from those men of all ages stopped me in my tracks. Stories of suicide, grief, loss of sons, daughters, siblings, friends. My head and heart poured out for them.
After three months, the affiliated members asked if I had any wise words for the group. I started sending feedback to Facebook, telling the outside world what I’d learned. A problem shared is a problem halved.
At the last meeting, I sat quietly and thanked them for having my back, like I had theirs.
Stroke awareness work with Stroke Association
Stroke Awareness isn’t just something I do, it’s something I live. I didn’t see the changes at first. But I feel them now. I feel like a content man.
My journey began with confusion, pain, and a stubborn refusal to be boxed in. I’ve spoken at forums, shared poetry, and offered practical advice to others navigating recovery.
I advocate for better transport, digital access, and respectful care especially for survivors in rural areas. I use humour to soften the hard edges, and storytelling to make the invisible visible.
Whether it’s helping someone find the right train platform or sharing a poem that captures the fog of fatigue, I try to make life a little easier for those who follow.
Closing Reflection
And if I were to bottle this journey, it wouldn’t be neat. It would hold:
- A bat’s left eye—watchful in the dark
- A Cyclops’ toenail—ground into powder, stubborn and strange
- A whisper of Queen—A Touch of Magic still ringing in the air
- One of Medusa’s living snakes—truth that can’t be tamed
- A mezcal gusano larva—hold the tequila, keep the grit
- Coconut water mixed into a drinkable cocktail of memory and resilience
- And a coin for the ferryman because every crossing deserves honour
People don’t want miracles but a light to guide them will do.
Find out more
Making Pathways Together
Making Pathways Together was a project that looked at how we can improve the experience of the people we support. The project was online and ran from 2020 to 2022. The people who took part created posters. These were like the front page of a magazine or a newsletter. They showed their ideas for how to improve Future Pathways.
Voices for a Better Future
Voices for a Better Future is a survivors voice group. It brings together people who experienced abuse or neglect while they were children in the Scottish care system. Members of the group want to make a difference. They want to help improve services and support.
Andy’s Man Club
Andy’s Man Club offers free peer-to-peer support groups for men across the United Kingdom. Groups are both face-to-face and online. They aim to end stigma about men’s mental health through confidential, judgement-free spaces where men can open up.
Stroke Association
The Stroke Association is Scotland’s leading stroke-specific charity providing lifelong support for all stroke survivors and their families. It provides information and support online, by phone and in the community.