Citizens Advice was started just after the start of World War 2. Whilst it has grown and developed over the intervening years, the ethos hasn’t changed. We are here to help anyone and everyone, whoever they are, whatever their problem, giving confidential, impartial and non-judgemental advice free of charge.

We have stood the test of time largely because of dedicated volunteers who give their time so freely. All our staff and volunteers receive comprehensive, ongoing training and support to ensure the people we help receive a high quality service. People joining us in whatever capacity, have an opportunity to learn new skills, build new friendships as well as expanding their personal experience whilst giving something back to their local community.

The problems people present to us can be heart-rending but much of our positive feedback focusses on the calm and practical approach that is given to assisting with the problems they face. Sadly, in today’s world, these are becoming increasingly complex. People may bring us one problem, but when delving into their circumstances, we frequently unearth other issues, often linked and can require patient and diligent unravelling. However, a common thread amongst the people that we help is the overwhelming sense of relief at being able to offload to a sympathetic and trusted ear, so much so that some feel empowered to move forwards in resolving their problems without further support from us.

Perhaps people don’t realise it, but we play a huge part in influencing decision and policy makers, trying to ensure that life is fairer for all. Our reputation means that we have a voice that is listened to at local and national government level and whilst ensuring that all information shared is anonymised, we back our aspirations for a fairer society with evidenced, factual data on how current policy impacts the lives of those most vulnerable in society.

Citizens Advice attend local community events to raise our profile and undertake surveys to better understand the problems at the heart of our community. We have published a comprehensive report on living standards. Our findings, based on comparative date we have collected over two years at three key local events are covered in the report which you can view by clicking below:

It is a measure of the increase in demand for our services that even though, year on year, we help significantly more people with ever increasing problems, we are still facing a figure of 60% unmet demand. This is despite ongoing recruitment campaigns, introducing more agile ways of working (such as the introduction of email advice mid 2023) and a steady increase in volunteer numbers.

We are at pains to raise awareness of the work we do and make no apology for our unrelenting quest to recruit more volunteers to enable us to help even more people and reduce our levels of unmet demand.

Anyone interested in finding out more about volunteering opportunities with us can contact [email protected] for further information. We will be delighted to hear from you!