29 Oct 2026
We are a network of over 240 local organisations across the country providing information, advice and guidance which is free, independent, impartial and confidential on issues ranging from debts and benefits to housing and employment. Anywhere you live, there will be a local Citizens Advice service near you and every year we help over 2.5 million people. 85% of our service users would recommend us to a friend.
Many local offices are based in rural communities, with advice provided by people who live locally, usually a combination of staff and volunteers. This means we really do understand the challenges faced by those in rural and coastal communities, both the joys but also the challenges. The advice we provide can help clients maximise their income, reduce their debt burden, find better housing, and feel protected at work. As a consequence our advice can also improve mental and physical health and wellbeing.
In recent years the Citizens Advice network has been modernising its advice services, introducing a wider range of ways for people to get in touch including by email, webchat, phone and, in some offices, by video. We know that for many in rural areas travelling to get advice can be costly and time-consuming, and being able to send an email or phone call, can be a quicker and more efficient use of precious time. We continue to evolve our services so that we become increasingly embedded within our communities, working alongside other charities, and public services, to proactively get advice to people before they hit crisis.
Identifying commonalities, in terms of challenges as well as opportunities, between many of our coastal and rural offices, we have recently formed a Rural and Coastal Communities Group to work together on a range of themes. Our initial 4 key priorities are to:
- Amplify understanding and awareness of the realities of coastal, rural and rurban lives and the specific challenges faced by our clients.
- Advocate on behalf of struggling residents, using evidence-based advice data, to influence national and local policy on issues impacting coastal and rural quality of life.
- Share Innovation and learning about what works and what doesn’t in coastal and rural advice service design and delivery.
- Create opportunities to increase our impact on coastal, rural and rurban clients by fundraising to power collaborative coastal and rural projects and support this group’s sustainability.
Local Citizens Advice across the country are looking to partner with other organisations who share our values and interests, to design and deliver more effective and more targeted services to rural and coastal communities. Separately, our data enables us, and the people we work with, to better understand what’s happening in real time to those who are struggling, helping to identify the root causes of current problems and move closer to resolving them. By working together we can do more. Let’s explore how…together.
Find out more about your local Citizens Advice service from https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ .
