Annual Report

Transcription

1 North Hertfordshire and District Citizens Advice Bureau Annual Report

2 About Us The Citizens Advice service provides a free, independent, confidential, impartial service of information, guidance, advice and support. It values diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination. Its aims are to provide the advice people need for the problems they face, and to improve the policies and practices that affect people s lives marked the 75 th anniversary of Citizens Advice nationally. North Hertfordshire and District Citizens Advice Bureau is an independent local charity. We depend on funding from local authorities and other local organisations, local charitable trusts, local businesses and private donations. Our highly-trained volunteers, who give their free time to help local people, hugely amplify the service that we can provide for the funding we receive. We are equipped to respond to any issue, from anyone, covering areas including benefits, debt, employment and housing amongst many others. In North Hertfordshire and South Cambridgeshire advice is delivered face-to-face from 11 outlets, including housing offices, community centres, county courts, food banks, as well as via phone and . Introduction was a year of change and challenge for the bureau and our clients. Welfare reform and increased pressures on personal and public budgets continued to have an impact on our communities. Poorer families, those with disabled family members and those with caring responsibilities found that they needed to do more with less. Our work at North Hertfordshire and District CAB has continued to focus on providing practical help and advice to the people who need it most. The majority of these are ordinary people coping with difficult circumstances. This has not always been easy in the face of rising need, but we have implemented better ways of working to equip the service to deal with current and future challenges. One of the ways we are tackling this is by pooling resources and working more closely in partnership with other local organisations that help disadvantaged and under-represented groups (see our list of partners on page 7). We recognise that many of the people we support have complex and inter-related problems. By working with other support organisations, we can provide a more effective service, ensuring that people receive the help they need to resolve their issues from both the CAB and others simultaneously. In our North Hertfordshire Big Lottery funded project, we are working to meet local needs by pooling resources, providing training and support and improving referral processes. One of the aims of this project is to increase access to good quality information across all frontline service providers. To this end we have trained our partners frontline staff to use the national website and installed kiosks (the photo on the front cover shows Cllr. Lynda Needham launching the Baldock Community Centre kiosk with us) in community venues. This reduces the need for people to come to the bureau for help, and enables us to concentrate resources on the most complex issues where our staff can have the greatest impact. Other significant changes included implementing a new case management system; streamlining our advice methods by providing more self-help materials, both in the bureau and online; saying farewell to our longserving Bureau Manager, Sally Salisbury; and recruiting Ríonach Aiken as our new Chief Executive. As we move through , one thing is already certain: the year will be equally busy and even more challenging for the CAB and its partner organisations. Giles Woodruff, Chair of Trustees Ríonach Aiken, Chief Executive

3 Our clients and their advice needs in We dealt with 10,430 advice issues. This required a total of 9,424 direct contacts with clients face-toface, phone calls, letters and s. We had 4,872 new enquiries face-to-face or by telephone, as well as assisting other clients with ongoing cases. Ethnicity Disability 14% 86% White BAME 72% 28% All long term health problems and/or disability Not Disabled Age Gender 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% Male 46% Female 54% 0% 50% 100%

4 Transforming Advice Services October 2013 marked the start of our Transforming Advice Services in North Hertfordshire two year project, funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The key aims are increasing partnership working across local advice-giving organisations and encouraging self-help. Our formal partners are North Hertfordshire Homes, Relate and the North Hertfordshire Minority Ethnic Forum and we are constantly growing our range of informal partners. Our project caseworker enables us to work with more clients with complex needs. Our project coordinator organises events and delivers training to frontline staff locally on how they can use the comprehensive website to help local people to help themselves by finding the information they need. This has proved extremely popular. Our digital media expert set up our Twitter which now has hundreds of followers, enabling us to share information with people and professionals locally. Our website has been upgraded to include self-help materials and we have installed information touch-screen kiosks in Baldock Community Centre and North Hertfordshire College in Hitchin to widen access to advice locally. Our Projects Manager ensures that this project works seamlessly with our many other projects, and identifies new partners for this and potential future projects so we can continue to transform advice services and together provide great outcomes for local people. Please get in touch if you would like more information. Case study Help for a military ex-serviceman Ernie* is a former Royal Marine based in the Hitchin area who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Unemployed and struggling to live on his Marine pension, Ernie fell behind with his rent and council tax payments. When he was referred to us by his housing officer he was very anxious about this, particularly when his council tax debt was passed to the bailiff. Our caseworker (funded by North Hertfordshire Homes) worked with Ernie to look in detail at all his income and expenditure and produced a financial statement for him. This meant that Ernie could agree manageable terms for paying off his council tax arrears and rent arrears, avoiding any possession proceedings. At the same time, we approached the British Legion on Ernie s behalf. With their help we were able to secure a grant (via the Royal Naval Benevolent Trust) to clear his rent and council tax arrears of over 2,000. This gave Ernie a fresh start along with a better idea of how to manage in the future, which greatly relieved his anxiety. (*not real name) Case study Help for a pensioner on a dwindling income Mrs Woods* came to see us at our Royston office. She lived carefully on her state pension and a small private pension, but for a number of years still had to use her savings to pay essential bills. As her savings shrank she was now struggling to make ends meet. We checked what benefits she might be able to access and she was surprised to learn that she was entitled to Pension Credit, Housing Benefit and some Council Tax Support. Armed with information on how to apply, Mrs Woods also received support from the Pension Service and the council to complete her application forms. She was relieved when this increased her weekly income by 124, enabling her to cover all her essential costs. (*not real name)

5 Case study Help for a vulnerable family to stay in their home Elizabeth* is a single mother with a long-term health condition and three dependent children. Recovering from domestic violence she was fearful of leaving her home. She missed benefits appointments and her benefits were suspended. Elizabeth s rent arrears built up and eventually her social housing landlord sought possession of her home. Summoned to her local County Court, she was afraid to attend as her violent ex-partner lived nearby and was an active threat. Elizabeth came to us the day before her court hearing. We contacted the court, arranging for the hearing to be postponed and reallocated to another venue to ensure her safety. We worked with the relevant benefit agencies to get her Housing Benefit and Employment and Support Allowance backdated, which cleared most of her rent arrears. In addition, an application was made for a Discretionary Housing Payment to cover her under-occupancy. As a result, Elizabeth gained financial benefits of nearly 7,000 which enabled her to remain in her home while she got back on her feet. (*not real name) Volunteer Spotlight Advisor Cliff Marshall When I volunteered to help at the CAB I assumed that at least some of my lifetime experiences qualified me to be an advisor. Although now comfortably retired, my wife and I started married life as a homeless couple and soon had a baby on the way. We have tried to give something back by being involved in the voluntary sector, usually as Board members. With my background of legal and financial matters in building and property, and my experience as a district councillor, I thought that I would be more useful helping clients face to face. What a shock to find that, on joining the CAB, how little I knew and how limited my skills were. There started a long and life-enhancing journey. Fortunately, the CAB is great at training volunteers in the necessary skills. They also have a comprehensive database covering most of the almost limitless range of problems clients bring to the bureau. I joined in a group of five volunteers and, with the help of the paid staff and the other volunteers, we negotiated all the changes to procedures being introduced during our training, like the telephone Adviceline and Gateway assessment. All five of us completed our training to become advisors. Of course, it isn t possible for anyone to know everything but, because the whole bureau works as a team, we are able to explain to most clients their options, and the possible consequences of their choices. The first thing I learnt was that we can t solve every client s problems. I was surprised at how some clients let their problem get so much worse before coming to the bureau and how so many believed that we could wave a magic wand to make things better without them having to do anything. At least in most instances we are able to move them forward. Since the recession it has been a constant struggle to keep up with all the changes to the law and the benefit system, so it isn t surprising that clients are confused about their rights and entitlements. However, the excellent training courses provided by Citizens Advice help us to keep up to date. This helps us to challenge unfair assessments of some vulnerable clients; or deal with a waiting room full of dismissed staff on a Monday morning. I find the most difficult problem to advise on is relationship breakdown as it involves so many other issues needing careful consideration at an emotional time. At least I can now complete an advice session without being in tears! Although we can t solve every problem I still get great personal satisfaction from helping clients know their rights and to make them realise that they are not on their own. Being part of a team working towards the same goal makes CAB a rewarding place to work. I would recommend it to anyone thinking of volunteering.

6 Treasurer s report and accounts Summary of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 st March Income and Expenditure Account Income Grants 405, ,815 Donations 625 1,137 Interest Other 1,743 2,432 Total 407, ,043 Expenditure Costs of charitable activities 372, ,473 Governance costs 1,265 1,258 Total 374, ,731 Alex Georgescu Treasurer Trustee Net incoming / (outgoing) resources 33,711 (15,688) Fund Balances Opening Balance 156, ,503 Net increase / (decrease) 33,711 (15,688) Transfers 0 0 Closing Balance 190, ,815 In the year the bureau received grants and other income totalling 407,847 and had outgoings totalling 374,136. The income and outgoings include all those relating to the running of the general advice service and also specific projects. The surplus of 33,711 has been added to the reserves brought forward. It arose because of a number of different factors that resulted in a favourable variance and will be partially absorbed by budgeting for a planned deficit in Funds received for specific projects during the year totalled 234,565 ( ,503). The increase arises mostly from new fixed duration projects funded by the Big Lottery Fund and Hertfordshire County Council although there were also sizeable increases in the project grants from North Hertfordshire Homes and Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation. The funds of 190,526 carried forward include 5,210 of restricted funds and 185,316 of unrestricted funds. The unrestricted funds consist of 33,316 general funds and four designated funds that have been set up by the Trustees: 98,000 to provide three months contractual running costs; 37,000 to help the bureau with possible future relocation costs for any of its premises; and two reserves totalling 17,000 to provide for unexpected future IT expenditure and the risk of abnormally high costs of cover for staff absence. The latter are considered necessary to ensure that the bureau can continue to maintain its level of service to clients. This information is a brief summary of the full Trustees Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 st March 2014, which can be obtained from the bureau.

7 Thank You Our Partners We work in partnership with a range of other organisations to reach as many people as possible. During we worked with the following organisations: Age UK All nine Hertfordshire Citizens Advice Bureaux Black Squirrel Credit Union Cambridge and District CAB Care Network Cambridgeshire Carers in Hertfordshire (Stevenage) Hertfordshire Citizens Advice Service Hertfordshire County Council Herts Women s Centre (Stevenage) Herts Young Homeless HertsHelp Holly Blue Children's Centre Home-Start Job Centre Plus Letchworth Mental Health team Melbourn Community Hub Money Advice Unit North Hertfordshire Centre for Voluntary Service (CVS) North Hertfordshire College North Hertfordshire District Council North Hertfordshire Homes North Hertfordshire Minority Ethnic Forum North Herts Community Mental Health team Oughton Children's Centre Relate Stevenage Borough Council The Salvation Army Thriving Families Timebank Trussell Trust Food Banks York Road Children's Centre Our Volunteers Thank you to all those who have volunteered their time to help the Bureau, whether as receptionists, assessors, advisors, administrators, social policy campaigners, IT support, trustees or other roles (such as helping with premises issues). We conservatively estimate the value of the time donated to be over 350,000. We offer volunteering opportunities for a range of roles. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more, or have skills that you would like to offer to your local community by volunteering with us. Our Funders Many people are not aware that we are an independent local charity. The work we do would not be possible without the support of North Hertfordshire District Council and many other funders. Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation Hertfordshire County Council

8 North Hertfordshire and District Citizens Advice Bureau We are a registered charity (reg. no ), a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales (reg. no ), and a member of the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (membership number 70/0004). Registered office: Also at: Leys Avenue Letchworth Garden City Hertfordshire SG6 3EG - Thomas Bellamy House, Hitchin - Town Hall, Royston - Melbourn Community Hub, Melbourn Telephone: Adviceline number: Website and advice: I m so very grateful for all your help. I arrived feeling so helpless and left feeling that there is a solution for a very serious problem. Thank you. Client I find it very hard asking for help and had been dreading pouring out my personal problems to a stranger. I shouldn t have been so worried. The staff are very understanding and not at all judgemental of the life choices I have made in the past. Client