Citizens Advice Maidenhead 20 13 14 · A Shelter adviser at Maidenhead CAB saw there was a case for him to receive assistance under homelessness legislation. However, the Local Authority

Citizens Advice Maidenhead

Annual Report

201314

The Charity for your Community

TOP ISSUES

Home visits160 home visits were made to 131 clients in 2013/14. 42 new clients were helped in this way. Their financial gains totalled £168,000. We provided assistance with applications for benefits linked to disability, ill health as well as carer’s and housing allowances. We gave advice on bereavement, inheritance, power of attorney and financial issues. (See page 10 for examples of this work).

Welfare Benefits Tribunals Our experienced Welfare Benefits advisers, Joan and Bob, supported 37 clients with appeals. Of the 37 clients represented, 32 were successful, gaining on average around £2000 each. Our volunteers carried out an average of 12 hours work for each appeal.

Citizens Advice Maidenhead02

Chairman’s Report

77%

23%of clients were seen in person and

helped over the phone.

202clients were helped at our weekly outreach service at All Saints Church, Dedworth in Windsor.

Highlights of 2013/14

70032870clients seen on

issues.

• Benefits 28%• Debt 20%• Housing 12%• Employment 9%• Family 7%• Other 24%

• White British/White 80%• Asian/British Asian 12%• Black British/Black 3%• Mixed Race 2%• Other 3%

CLIENT ETHNICITY

Annual Report 2014 03

Help with foodFoodshare Maidenhead is a charity that provides food and help to local people who cannot afford to feed themselves properly. In the past year we issued an average of 22 vouchers per week to allow our clients to pick up Foodshare food parcels.

Help with housing and immigrationMaidenhead CAB has been working closely with Shelter and the Slough Immigration Aid Unit to provide specialist housing and immigration advice. This is funded by the Big Lottery Advice Services Transition Fund until July 2015.

Visiting SolicitorsEvery Wednesday afternoon three appointments are offered to our clients, usually within five days of their first visit. Our visiting solicitors provide free, expert advice on such subjects as employment, matrimonial problems, criminal offences, harassment, debt recovery and disputes with neighbours.

Food parcels with basic items for a family


Mr X, an elderly British citizen, sought advice on how to bring his Filipina fiancée into the UK so they can be married and live here together. Despite having no income, he had inherited money. SIAU was able to explain the Home Office calculations used to establish whether savings constitute adequate provision for maintenance, as well as other requirements of the immigration rules. A few months later, Mr X had collected all the evidence he needed and had filled out the visa application forms. SIAU checked everything was in order for his fiancée to join him.

Ms X, a British citizen, wanted to know how her partner in Barbados might come to live with her in the UK. She hoped that he might be able to come to work or study, or just be here with her. SIAU pointed out that he did not have the kind of skills that would enable an employer to get a permit for him. What’s more, he did not have suitable educational qualifications to come as a student, his finances were hard to establish, and they had not cohabited for over two years so he could not qualify as her partner. Even a visit would be difficult, as he would have to show that he intended to leave at the end of it. They were advised that marriage might be the only way they could be together in the UK.

Advice from experts

One of Maidenhead CAB’s most important services is to refer clients to specialists that can offer expert advice. Here are some examples of this work with Slough Immigration Aid Unit (SIAU) on immigration and Shelter on housing.


This client is a single male who is diabetic and dependent on insulin. He became homeless when he had to leave his accommodation due to violence. He stayed with his mother, and with various friends, ‘sofa surfing’ for over a year. His health suffered. He was not eating properly and he was unable to store and take his medication regularly. A Shelter adviser at Maidenhead CAB saw there was a case for him to receive assistance under homelessness legislation. However, the Local Authority had rejected his application for accommodation. A Shelter solicitor was brought in to undertake further work on his behalf, including a potential Judicial Review.

These clients are a couple, with children, who had been living in their property since 1987. The landlord wanted possession of the property so that he could sell it, and had given two months’ notice under s21 Housing Act. They consulted a Shelter adviser who told them that they were likely to have a protected tenancy. A landlord can only successfully gain possession of a protected tenancy in certain specific circumstances. We made written representations to the landlord’s solicitor explaining that the notice was not valid and that possession could not be sought on the grounds stated. The clients and their family have been able to remain in their home, as the landlord has not taken any further action to evict.

Maxine Mutch Training and HR Manager

There are many ways that individuals can volunteer, depending on their experience and the amount of time they can give. Joining as a receptionist or gateway assessor is a great way to learn new skills and to move on to advising. We need volunteers with specific experience or expertise that might be IT support, book keeping, marketing or fundraising. To find out more about current vacancies please visit www . c i t i z e n s a d v i c e . o r g . u k - volunteering section, or contact [email protected] We look forward to hearing from you.

£25,000£12,700

£8,450£6,803


A busy year behind us... and aheadOur finances

Where our money came from in 2013/14

How our money was spent in 2013/14

TOTAl inCOMe £227,163

TOTAl expendiTuRe £204,765

lOuiS

BAYliS TRuST

ROYAl BRiTiS

H leGiOn pR

OJeCT

eneRGY BeST d

eAl

CiTiZenS AdViCe

OTHeR inCOM

e

COMM

uniTY FiRST

ClienT d

OnATiOnS

BiG lO

TTeRY

RBWM

GRAnT

£93,000 £153,766

£74,495

£48,184

£1,015

£1,800

STAFF

/VOlu

nTeeR

OFFiCe/O

THeR

depReCiATiO

n

GOVeRnAnCe

£3,318 £2,500

£897


Our Treasurer says...

We have a surplus of £22,398 in 2013/14 and reserves of £103,332.

Our main costs have been for: • employing staff to manage the core service/projects and to supervise/train volunteers• project related total £114,200 and are covered by project income • office/premises costs include phone bills, ICT costs, insurance• Volunteer costs - travel, training provision

In addition to the bureau volunteers we utilise pro bono services for payroll, book keeping, communication and negotiate very low rates from suppliers.

Time is precious

We’ve calculated that the time donated by our volunteers in 2013/4 was equivalent to a cost of £319,565. Volunteers are the life-blood of the Citizens Advice Service.

The Louis BaylisCHARITABLE TRUST

Sean eganTreasurer


Our clients face financial hardship, aggressive debt collectors, unscrupulous landlords, unfair employers and appalling customer service. Many have had their Job Seeker’s Allowances suspended. There are unacceptable backlogs in the processing of sickness and disability benefit claims and a lack of free legal advice.

Our aim is to prevent problems like this from re-occurring.

Our current campaigns and calls for evidence include:

• Improving the work capability assessment for Employment and Support Allowance claimants

• Legislation to govern logbook loans to provide better protection for buyers of second hand cars

• Encouraging schools and education authorities to promote cost-cutting policies on school uniforms, trips, kit and other items

• Lobbying local authorities to tackle child poverty by offering school clothing grants

• Research into the impact of self-disconnection among people who use prepayment meters for gas and electricity

• Monitoring the need for food banks and reasons for referral

Recent campaigns have resulted in these changes:

• Payday Loan companies now regulated by Financial Conduct Authority

• Increased regulation of bailiffs; all bailiffs now need to be trained and certified

• Increase in child care support for low income families on Universal Credit

Our role in campaigning:

• We feed in anonymous evidence to the central team at Citizens Advice

• We highlight issues to MPs, councillors, policymakers, local media and other local agencies

• We maintain a dialogue with the local council, attending forums and meetings

• We create public awareness of potential problems through monthly advice columns in the press and talks to local community groups

• We carry out local research projects

Campaigning for change: “social policy”


please join us in our work to change people’s lives for the better.

Just look at what some of our volunteers have to say...

“it is great to support clients who sometimes think there is no-one who can help them. it is also a joy to meet and work with so many caring and helpful fellow volunteers.”

“it certainly keeps one’s brain active with such a variety of subjects that clients present. When one is really able to help someone it gives a warm feeling of satisfaction and achievement. The majority of clients are very pleased with the help they receive.”

“if you are thinking of downsizing from a responsible demanding job and are looking to replace your employment with voluntary work which requires commitment and a willingness to learn, and if you feel satisfaction in helping people cope with the many and various difficulties that they encounter in modern society…then apply to train as a CAB volunteer!”

“Meeting with a wide variety of issues and the constant learning is very valuable. The satisfaction of enabling clients to resolve many different kinds of issues is core.”

“if you are unemployed or looking for work, then working for CAB gives you the most up-to-date information on work. it keeps you informed and alert through knowing other people’s criteria and circumstances. it also looks good on a CV.”

At Maidenhead, we have been fortunate to attract volunteers with valuable skills and expertise in areas such as customer services, strategic management, IT support, accountancy, journalism and public relations.

Why don’t you join them?

We were fortunate in 2013/14 that our experienced home visiting adviser, Hilary, returned on a voluntary basis to assist Jane Daynes with our home visiting service. The statistics are on page 2 – here we describe how our home visiting team can have a big impact on our clients’ finances.

Wrestling with bureaucracy Jane has become an expert on disability benefits. She applied her skills in the case of a client who had been facing lengthy problems with the DWP regarding non-payment of her 90-year-old mother’s Attendance Allowance. For weeks, our client had been trying, unsuccessfully, to reason with the DWP to get her mother’s Attendance Allowance paid. The Attendance Allowance department claimed that payments had already been included in her Pension Credit, yet the Pension Credit department confirmed this was not the case.

Weeks and months went by. The matter was still not resolved and our client was at a loss as to how to proceed. Jane suggested they take the matter to a higher level and write to their MP, who in this case is Theresa May. The client later got in touch to thank us, as Mrs May had forwarded the issue to the appropriate minister, Iain Duncan Smith. Finally, her mother had been awarded approximately £21,000 in overdue benefit, backdated to 2004.

Challenging calculations An elderly client had unwittingly incurred a large overpayment of housing benefit, which she was asked to repay. We challenged the local authority on their calculations and asked them to apply a complex calculation rule that was applicable in this case. Our client was enormously relieved when her overpayment was reduced from £9,154 to £1,365.

The Benefits of Home Visits


elderly clients find our home visiting service invaluable


expanding our services

More phone lines

Many of our clients want to use the phone to access advice. To allow them to contact us more easily, we will be joining Citizen Advice’s national phone service Advice Line in December 2014. A team of volunteers will be recruited to help run this new service and additional telephone skills training will be provided for all our volunteers.

extra consultations

We will be offering extra face-to-face services in Dedworth and Windsor from late 2014. This will put advice in easy reach of residents living in some of the most deprived parts of the Royal Borough. The service will also be accessible to residents living in the centre of Windsor.

More financial training

Funding from Community First and Citizens Advice helped us to establish our “money savvy” training programme in 2012/13. We provide financial training to local residents including those with mental health issues and learning difficulties. Community First has also funded a new programme that enables us to run one to one money advice sessions in Maidenhead CAB and provides two work placements.

problems with energy

We’ve taken part in the Energy Best Deal campaign that provides training and one to one sessions on how to cut energy costs. We collaborated with partners in housing associations, family centres and day centres throughout 2013/14.

Making progress on the Advice Matters project

This project is funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Advice Services Transition Fund. Working with our CAB partners in Bracknell and Slough, as well as Shelter and the Slough Immigration Aid Unit, we have been considering how to tap into the latest and best organisational practices and how to increase income streams. A training and recruitment hub is being piloted that allows us to train more volunteers. We are also working to find the best way of sharing services and back office systems.

Our Chair’s report

The year 2013/14 saw us getting to grips with some major opportunities to expand and improve the range of services provided by Maidenhead CAB.

The Advice Matters project has stimulated a lot of fresh thinking on how to share resources across East Berkshire. One of our most important tasks in the coming year will be to identify ways in which our three bureaus can help each other.

We have been helped by an increase in our core funding from the Royal Borough, allowing us to provide more services in the Windsor area. Yet there seems almost no limit to the high level of demand for CAB’s assistance. That’s why we will be making great efforts to boost our income stream from other sources. We are actively looking for a volunteer who has expertise in income generation to join the Trustee Board.

Over the past year, we have been working hard to ensure the Board is equipped with the range of skills needed to lead the organisation in these rapidly changing times. We carried out an audit and identified some gaps. We were very fortunate to fill one of those gaps quickly when we welcomed Lynne Graham, with her high level expertise in HR, onto our Board earlier this year. My workload as a Councillor and Cabinet Member for RBWM has increased significantly, so I have taken the decision to step down as Chair. I will continue to be actively involved as a Board member. The Board is delighted that Mike Churchman has agreed to take on the role of Chair from this AGM onwards.

Finally, on behalf of the Board, I would like to send the warmest thank you to all our dedicated volunteers and staff. We are full of admiration for your work.

A year of opportunities...


Tony HillChair

derek WilsonChair

Mike ChurchmanNewly appointed Chair

Our Bureau director’s report

First and foremost, we should thank our fantastic volunteers and staff who have helped us provide advice to thousands of clients in 2013/14. The service we provide would simply not be possible without your dedication.

I would also like to thank the Royal Borough which has increased our core grant by £40,000 to a total of £132,000. This will allow us to expand our phone and face-to-face services. We also appreciate the continued support from the Baylis Trust who have generously given us a grant of £25,000.

With the service fully stretched, and clients increasingly needing urgent assistance we have looked at how we can extend the service to meet ever growing demand. We are focusing on winning new contracts

and funding that will allow us to increase access to our core advice service. We were very fortunate to recruit an excellent Advice Services Manager, Alan White, to lead service development when Anne Wilder retired in December. Alan joined us from High Wycombe CAB and is committed to transforming our service.

In 2014/15 our plans include expanding our phone service, setting up additional advice sessions in Windsor and Dedworth and exploring the potential for email advice and other technologies. In addition, we have a wide range of initiatives planned as part of the Advice Matters project.

The year to come will be full of new opportunities. It is up to us to make sure we seize them all.

Chris O’HareBureau Director



A busy year behind us... and aheadHelping to put wrong decisions right

Two examples of our work in welfare

A male client in his mid 50s had been in receipt of Incapacity Benefit for 30 years. He suffers from a well-documented problem of rheumatoid arthritis and is under specialist care. He receives the higher rate of Mobility Allowance and lower rate of Care Disability Living Allowance.

When Incapacity Benefit changed into the Employment

Support Allowance, the client was interviewed over the phone and assessed as being capable of work. He sought our help to

appeal this decision, which was subsequently reversed and the client

retained his entitlement to the appropriate level of Employment

Support Allowance.

A female client in her late 40s, approached the bureau for assistance when she scored nil points in her Work Capability Assessment carried out, on the state’s behalf, by Atos Healthcare. Her Employment Support Allowance was terminated. Since she had been deemed fit to work, she had to sign on to Job Seekers Allowance. She was suffering from a chronic mental illness and even the advisers at the Job Centre could not understand why she had failed the assessment.

We assisted the client with her appeal, representing her at the First-tier Tribunal Hearing. She was awarded 24 points! She was also placed in a work-related activity group, where a personal adviser worked with her to identify the support she needed to prepare for a future return to the workplace.

Many clients believe that a nil points score in their Work Capability Assessment means ‘all is lost’ and there is nothing they can do to remedy the situation. This is far from true. We are helping many clients to have wrong decisions overturned.


The people that make it all happen

Our Volunteers Abhirami, Alan, Alicja , Barbara, Bema, Bharat, Bob K, Bob W, Brenda , Caroline, Carolyn, Christina, Christine P, Christine R, David, Dean, Debra, Diane, Elizabeth, Fatima, Frankie, Geoff, Harriet, Helen, Hilary D, Hilary K, Jackie J, Jan P, Jan Ped, Jean D, Jean R, Jo, Joan BN, Joan G, Karen, Mary, Natasha, Nick, Nora, Patricia, Paulanne, Phillip, Pippa, Robin , Rosemary, Sally, Teresa , Yuen Ha. The following left in 2013/14: Anthony, Beverley, Caitlin, Eleanor, Gillian, Jane, Jean J, Jim, John, Kusam, Peter, Ruth, Sarah, Stella, Valerie, Vidya.

Our StaffWeceam Akhtar, Varinder Bhandal, Hilary Bone, Jane Daynes, Maria Evans, Elaine Griffin, Cathie House, Bethan Jarvis, Gemma McCabe, Maxine Mutch, Chris O’Hare, Alan White. The following left in 2013/14: Naresh Atreya, Peter Moody, Viv Quant, Anne Wilder.

Our TrusteesMike Churchman, Sean Egan, Lynne Graham, Tony Hill (Vice Chair), Dorothy Kemp, Alison Logan, Philip Love, Peter Sands, Derek Wilson (Chair). The following left in 2013/14: Saghir Ahmed, Howard McBride, Deena O’Brien, Frankie Holness, Asghar Majeed and Jaswinder Pannu.

Thank you to our visiting solicitorsFrom Aston Bond, Charsley Harrison, Colemans, Fort & Co, Kidd Rapinet

Charitable SupportWe are grateful for the ongoing support and generosity from: Berkshire Nurses and Relief-in-Sickness Trust, The Link Foundation, Lions Club of Maidenhead, Poole and Rings Charity, Rotary Club of Maidenhead and the Spoore, Merry and Rixman Foundation.

Clients have been assisted with provision of essential household items, school uniforms, transport costs and utility bills.

dedworth outreachWe are grateful to Reverend Louise Brown and her team at All Saints Church, Dedworth, Windsor, for supporting our Wednesday outreach sessions.

Business support & grantsMany thanks to Hale & Co for the provision of professional payroll services for the bureau on a pro bono basis and to Donald Reid (accountants). We are also grateful for grants from Bracknell Masonic Lodge and the Shanly Foundation in 2013/14. Also thanks to Our Community Enterprise for their excellent support with grant applications, and to the Maidenhead Advertiser for publishing our regular advice column.

Citizens Advice aims to provide the advice people need for the problems they face and improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives. We provide free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. We value diversity, promote equality and challenge discriminationMaidenhead Citizens Advice Bureau is a company limited by guarantee and an independent registered charity. Charity registration number: 1085297 Company registration number: 04125139. Registered office: 4 Marlow Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 7YR, UK Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN: 617656

Where to find usWe offer free, independent, confidential and impartial advice by phone, and at wheelchair accessible premises, to those living or working in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Come and see us at: 4 Marlow Road, Maidenhead SL6 7YR Opening hours 10am – 4pm Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday.

The Porch, All Saints Church, Dedworth Road, Windsor, SL4 4JW Opening hours 10am – 12pm every Wednesday.

We will be offering extra appointments in Dedworth and Windsor and contact details will be advised via our website.

You can telephone Advice line: 01628 621006 (this number will change on 1st December 2014 to 03444 111444) Admin line: 01628 674842 (for current clients)

You can visit us on the internet: www.adviceguide.org.uk www.citizensadvice.org.uk

We’ll come to you

Home visits are available for elderly, disabled persons and their carers. Please call 01628 674842 to discuss your needs.

Group training available

We can give talks to small groups on managing money. Please call 01628 674842 to discuss or email [email protected]

Citizens Advice Maidenhead 20 13 14 · A Shelter adviser at Maidenhead CAB saw there was a case for him to receive assistance under homelessness legislation. However, the Local Authority

Documents