2021 at Citizens Advice Wokingham
Life can be difficult, it has its challenges— that’s why we’re here.
Our free advice, information and support helps guide people through their problems. These problems range from applying for benefits to being unfairly dismissed from work. It can be that poor mental health has impacted on money management, or issues with your landlord. We’re here to help unpick the situation and provide options to move forward.
Take Daniella* [name changed]. A diagnosis and experiences of a physical health problem restricted some of the duties they could carry out at work as a carer. Daniella had a great record of employment and was adapting satisfactorily with some reasonable adjustments. Following a change in management, they were asked to attend an occupational health assessment — and although this assessment supported them working, they were dismissed on grounds of capability and ill health. Our view was that Daniella had a case for unfair dismissal and had been subject to direct disability discrimination, so with Daniella, we submitted an employment tribunal claim. Whilst this case took around a year to resolve, Daniella received a financial settlement offer above their expectations — resulting in a successful outcome.
We have many examples of the outcomes of our work that our staff and volunteers do week-in week-out. Some are financial outcomes — money in peoples pockets, sometimes it’s about debt management — other times it can be improved mental health and wellbeing, helping people take control of a problem.
We have had another really busy year — in 2021 we:
- Helped 5,275 clients, with 17,746 issues
- Received over 590 referrals through our website
- Answered 10,622 calls, an increase of 34% from last year — making us the 11th highest performing Citizens Advice service in England & Wales for the number of calls answered
- Secured great outcomes with our clients — including over £1.6million of income gains and £906,895 of debts written off
- Signposted to over 110 local support services through our One Front Door including Wokingham United Charities for emergency grants, charities like The Cowshed for essential items and Wokingham Foodbank
- Had a wider impact on 1,738 people living in the households of our clients — totalling around 7,013 residents supported
Our Clients
In our quarterly client experience survey, 88% of our clients suggest that they would recommend our services and 85% of clients have managed to find a way forward with their problem with our help at the time of contact.
We receive really positive feedback regarding our work:
I had an urgent issue with work and being 6 months pregnant at the time it was incredibly stressful. I called citizens advice and was allocated Richard Tredgett. I can honestly say without Richards help and support, I would not have managed to be in the position I am now. Richard helped me to understand my rights and also supported me emotionally during the whole process. He was on hand whenever I needed him and I felt as though he genuinely cared.
I was very impressed with the help I received from the advisors. It helped me to understand the problem I had and also helped me to progress forward and sort it out in the correct way.
This year we continued to strive for excellence, resolving some of our most common issues relating to debt and benefits — including Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, tax credits, bankruptcy and debt relief orders.
Our team
We would not be able to provide such high-quality help if it was not for our team — which consists of both staff and volunteers. In 2021 we were supported by around 18 staff and 80 volunteers. They are the backbone of our charity two colleagues shared their thoughts and feelings on what we have achieved in 2021:
(As a team) we were formed in June 2020, so 2021 has been our first full year of operation. In 2021 we had 97 employment cases referred to us of which we successfully closed 89 during the year with a range of outcomes including £318k in ET (employment tribunal) Awards and settlements of which we are very proud
- Rob Barnard, Lead Employment Adviser
My proudest moment has been working with our volunteers and reaching so many clients with our service. I think our team are fantastic and we should all be very proud of our achievements.
- Claire Oughton, Advice and Operations Manager
What’s happening in 2022?
Our main Wokingham office has been gradually repaired and renovated after an incident with a leaky roof and we are hoping to have some staff back into the office early in 2022. We will be looking to reinstate face-to-face drop-ins and appointments where beneficial to clients.
Our aims for next year:
- We will be organising a lot more Mobile Advice Unit visits so that more people will know that we are here to help and be more accessible to those living in our communities across the borough
- Through our Research and Campaigns work we are engaged with revising and bringing attention to issues in the Borough such as Housing Allocation — which attempts to provide equal opportunities for applicants in finding appropriate housing
Finally, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who is part of Citizens Advice Wokingham. You are all important in making the charity such a fantastic place and are supporting our communities to the best of our abilities.
Thank you to our charity partners across the Borough, for your co-operation and support so that we can all provide people with the help they want.
And a huge thank you to our funders who keeps our services running.
For more information on our work please visit our website — www.citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk
