Impact Report 2023-24
Our vision
Everyone can face problems or challenges at some point. Good advice and effective advocacy are empowering. They help to give people agency and control over their own lives. We recognise that some people, because of their circumstances or the impact of the problem or the discrimination they face, need more help to achieve the best outcome.
By providing free, confidential and independent advice and advocacy services we aim to help individuals, families and communities have the knowledge, expert support and confidence to solve their problems. And we are particularly driven to ensure the most marginalised people in Sheffield can access our services.
We are committed to supporting and enabling a strong infrastructure around advice and advocacy and aspire to a city where, no matter where someone seeks support, they receive accurate information and guidance and, if needed, a seamless referral to our expert advice or advocacy.
We have defined four overarching objectives to enable us to deliver our vision:
Make advice and advocacy accessible to those who need it the most – working flexibly, with a range of partners, and with a focus on ending disparities in access for marginalised groups.
Put the voice of those with lived experience at the heart of everything we do – including and valuing the views and expertise of those who use our services.
Use and strengthen our influence to help shape wider services and support for the most vulnerable people in our city and campaign for change locally and nationally.
Continue to build our position and reputation as the lead local provider of quality independent and impactful advice and advocacy, trusted by the people of Sheffield.
Introduction from our Chair and Chief Executive
Delivering our vision over the last year against a backdrop of an ongoing cost of living crisis and political upheaval has required flexibility, creativity and a huge amount of hard work and commitment from our staff and volunteers. When the need for our services is always greater than we can meet it’s easy to get disheartened but in this report we want to celebrate the incredible impact of our work and the difference it has made to thousands of individuals and families across the city. Our work is all about people – so in this report we’ve centred their stories. People like Victoria who had been turned down for PIP and received over £8,500 when we successfully supported her to appeal and Jakub who had been a victim of trafficking and modern day slavery.
Our organisation has grown significantly over the last year as we have developed new partnerships designed to ensure we reach those who need us the most. We’ve started delivering advice in GP practices across three Primary Care Networks in the North and East of the city, implemented in person advice appointments at ACT and Shipshape and installed community access points in new locations including Tinsley Forum and Adira’s new hub. We were also successful in our bid to renew our contract to deliver advocacy services for the city with our existing partners Disability Sheffield and Cloverleaf and our new partner Sheffield African Caribbean Mental Health Association.
There isn't room to describe all our work in this report - for example we've not talked about our specialist employment advice or the support we give to people who have experienced domestic violence. But we very much hope you will enjoy this insight into some of our advice services and the difference they make. With best wishes,
Debbie Mathews
Chair
Sylvia Ward
CEO
In the rest of this report
We've gathered together individual stories and data from across our advice services. Select a topic to find out more about our work and the difference it makes
Welfare benefits
Victoria’s story
Victoria first applied for PIP in 2021 and when it was refused she submitted a mandatory reconsideration in May 2022 which was also refused. Until she met a Citizens Advice Sheffield Advice Worker at one of our hospital services she thought that was the end of the process. The Advice Worker felt that Victoria had a case for an appeal and supported her to submit this and to request an extension for appealing after the deadline on the grounds of her severe mental health problems and difficulty accessing support.
Over the next few months one of our experienced Appeals Advisers worked with Victoria, who was very distressed and anxious to help her gather evidence for the appeal. As well her mental health issues Victoria has a chronic lung condition, a benign brain tumour which causes migraines and was recently diagnosed with ADHD and autism. She’s also a single parent.
In January 2023 there was a setback when Victoria was informed the appeal had been heard in December and refused. The Adviser had not been notified of the hearing or the decision and Victoria had also been unaware of the hearing though she was struggling to open her post. We successfully appealed to have the decision set aside and a new date was set for May. This hearing had to be adjourned due to issues with the court and a further date set for August. Throughout this time the adviser liaised closely with Victoria ensuring she understood the process, was happy with the evidence being submitted and knew what to expect.
The hearing went ahead on this occasion and the appeal was allowed. Victoria was awarded PIP of £380 and back pay of £8,500. The Adviser had thought Victoria might qualify for the enhanced level of PIP and discussed further challenge but Victoria said she didn’t want to prolong the process. She said she could never have managed the appeal without support.
Supporting people to claim their benefits entitlement
This year benefits continued to be the biggest source of enquiries and requests for support. In all we helped our clients to claim in excess of £13 million. Having sufficient income to feed your family, to heat your home and to cover the extra costs of living with a disability is absolutely key for mental and physical health. All of our advisers receive in-depth training about benefits
- £13,142,762 income gained
58% of the people we support have a disability or long term health condition and we helped with 8,362 issues relating to Personal Independence Payment in 2023-24.
Check if you’ll get a Cost of Living Payment
The benefits system can be hard to navigate and too often the first decision made in response to a benefits claim is wrong necessitating a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) or Appeal. Citizens Advice Sheffield has a small team of highly skilled and experienced Appeals Advisers, most of them volunteers, who can support people through this process where they believe an incorrect decision has been made at MR. They supported 95 clients with appeals following unsuccessful mandatory reconsiderations (the majority relating to PIP) and were successful in 82 cases. Adding back pay and new annual awards this resulted in over half a million pounds of additional income. One client who has multiple disabilities was awarded £26,000. These are amounts which have a significant impact on quality of life so the expertise of our advisers and the support they give clients through what can be a very lengthy process are vital.
Upper Tier Tribunals
If an appeal is unsuccessful and the decision is believed to be wrong for a legal reason, for example, if the tribunal did not:
- give proper reasons for its decision, or back up the decision with facts
- apply the law properly
then an appeal can be made to the Upper Tribunal and our legal team can support people with this process which can be eligible for legal aid.
Help to Claim
Citizens Advice Sheffield also works with other Citizens Advice charities around the country to deliver the Help to Claim phone line – a service that supports people through the claim process to their first correct payment of Universal Credit. In 23/24 Sheffield staff supported over 3,000 clients to claim Universal Credit enabling them to access over £6million in benefits income.
Deaf advice
Elena’s story
Elena is deaf and uses Romanian Sign Language (and is learning British Sign Language). She got in touch in November via SMS to say she had an appointment for her Universal Credit Claim with DWP but needed an interpreter. We explained how to request one and arranged a follow up video call with her where we identified that she had other advice needs:
- Right to reside and applying for settled status (she had pre-settled
status) - Debt – Fuel supplier and arrears with Water bill
- Council Tax support (CTS) application
- Universal Credit (UC) application which was rejected based on her
having no right to reside - Support to look for work (for which we referred her to ZEST)
Over the next few months we worked with Elena to gather the evidence needed for a settled status application and supported her to challenge the Universal Credit decision. We contacted the Fuel Supplier to challenge the debt which was eventually acknowledged as an error and cleared and supported Elena to apply to the Yorkshire Water Support scheme for a contribution towards her next bill. Universal credit was awarded in March 2024 and Elena received her settled status a few weeks later. A strong relationship of trust was built between Elena and the Deaf Advice team over this period which enabled our advisers to support her through lengthy immigration and benefits processes even when she was finding it very stressful and difficult. Like so many of our clients Elena came to us with one issue but in fact needed support and advice on a number of issues in order to help her move forward.
Tailored advice for d/Deaf people
Many people assume that it is simply possible to interact with d/Deaf people in writing but the average reading age of a profoundly Deaf BSL user is just nine. Reading is a learned skill that is based on spoken language. When a child is learning to read, they must rely on the phonetic letter and word sounds – if they can’t hear the sounds it makes learning to read difficult.
This is just one of many barriers faced by deaf people; only 37% of people who report BSL as their main language are working, in comparison to 77% of people who are not disabled under the Equality Act; the rate of depression amongst deaf BSL users is double that of the general population; there is a serious shortage of BSL interpreters in the UK – just one for every 60 BSL users. A 2024 RNID survey showed that 72% of BSL users have experienced negative attitudes and behaviours from medical health staff in the last 12 months and 62% from public transport staff.
So access to a trusted source of holistic advice in British Sign Language is invaluable. For more than 30 years the Deaf Advice Service has provided this support in Sheffield and last year we supported 145 clients, from every ward in Sheffield, with 639 issues ranging from benefits to employment, immigration to housing and health to utilities
Expanding the service
Thanks to funding from Northern Powergrid we have been able to expand the advice team this year from three to six fluent BSL users – for four of whom BSL is their first language. As well as strengthening our local service, particularly in relation to energy, this has enabled us to work with other local Citizens Advice organisations who don’t have the same provision and we were delighted to launch a video-based service for Leeds clients. Other locations across the north are planned in the near future. The focus is on income maximisation – addressing benefits, debt and energy but the secondary aim is to support local Citizens Advice organisations to build trust and confidence among their local BSL communities.
As part of our new advocacy contract with Sheffield City Council we’ll also be developing tailored advocacy support for deaf people.
Integrated advice in healthcare settings
Mariam’s Story
Mariam was referred to by her Care Coordinator for an appointment with the Advice Worker based in her GP practice. Mariam has several physical health issues and was struggling financially as the HMRC assumed her adult children were living with her when they had in fact moved out over a year ago. Several medical professionals had tried to contact HMRC on Mariam’s behalf and provide relevant evidence but had received little response and in the meantime her benefits had been reduced from over £400 a week to £230.
The Advice Worker submitted an appeal for Mariam with evidence of her children’s living arrangements. When this resulted in a request for Mariam to complete further forms she became overwhelmed so the Advice Worker arranged for her to be supported by the HMRC Extra Support Team. As a result her original benefits were reinstated and she received a back payment and a further back payment of housing benefits. The time on a low income did lead Mariam to incur some debts which we’re now supporting her to resolve but she is so appreciative of the support she received to help her understand and resolve her problems.
Advice in GP practices
In 2023 we were delighted to receive funding from NHS South Yorkshire for an initial 18 month pilot to deliver advice on-site in GP practices across three areas of Sheffield most impacted by health inequalities and deprivation. The service launched in 19 practices towards the end of the year providing a combination of in-person and telephone appointments with follow up casework for people referred by their GP or another healthcare professional. Evidence from elsewhere shows that GPs spend a significant amount of time dealing with non-clinical issues and there are also clear links between poverty, debt and health (both physical and mental). There will be an independent evaluation of the service later in 2024 but the impact is already significant.
By March 2024 we had supported 191 clients, secured £293,893 in additional income for them and addressed 941 issues – that’s nearly 5 issues per client highlighting the complexity of need. We also know from our client survey that these issues were causing considerable stress and anxiety:
On a scale of 0 to 10 (where 10 is a lot) 78% rated how much they were worried about their issue as 8 or higher, 45% rated it 10. We’re also reaching a new audience through this route. In our survey:
- 85% said they wouldn’t be talking to Citizens Advice Sheffield about their issue if their GP practice hadn’t referred them
- 85% said they had not previously tried to seek help from Citizens Advice Sheffield
‘I just wanted to say that I am so grateful to have the CA worker working in the Foundry. Xx has been so helpful and quick to respond to any queries/ referrals.
Prior to xx joining, I spent so much of my time doing CAB/ housing/ benefits related work. It’s so nice that I can spend more of my time doing clinical work again!’ Clinical Associate Psychologist
A patient I have seen today said xx spent over 4 hrs helping him understand and fill in an application for a work capability assessment and also advised him to apply for PIP. He is very grateful for this as he has long term health problems and this helped reduce a lot of his anxiety and stress regarding future income.
Our hospital services
Advice in hospital settings
It has long been recognised that people with very serious health conditions often find it difficult to access advice. Our advisers often see clients at an extremely difficult period in their lives, perhaps a life-changing diagnosis or injury or progression of a serious long-term condition. Much of the work relates to finance, benefits and debt - our close links with healthcare professionals makes it easier to obtain medical evidence and support - and it’s well proven that resolving these issues can help relieve stress, assist wellbeing and have a positive impact on health.
Cancer Support Advice team
This project has run for many years and is funded by the Weston Park Cancer Support Charity. Advisers work out of the Cancer Support Centre though in 2024 this will extend to outreach sessions alongside the charity’s purple buses. Cancer can anyone so the team sees a wide cross section of clients with varying incomes, circumstances, diagnoses and prognoses. In 23/24 we saw over 800 clients and generated over £1,332,000 in additional income for them
Cystic Fibrosis
2023/24 was the second year of this service which provides tailored support to people living with cystic fibrosis. As CF is a progressive condition, some clients need our support when their symptoms worsen which might for example affect their ability to work. We also support a lot of younger clients including those who need to transition from DLA to PIP when they reach 16. The advisers work very closely with health staff and attend Multi Disciplinary Team Meetings to ensure all relevant clients are referred. They supported 60 clients over the year.
Haematology
This new service launched in April 2023, working with patients of the Haematology clinic, primarily people with Sickle Cell Disease. The fluctuating nature of the condition means that sometimes the rules of PIP cannot be met while for other clients, their immigration status means they have no recourse to public funds (NRPF) so most benefits cannot be claimed. Nevertheless during 2023-24, we saw 55 clients and generated over £48,000 in additional income. We refer people with NRPF to our immigration team if they may be eligible to apply for a change of conditions.
Spinal Injuries
This long-established service offers people, mostly in-patients, with advice, often after sustaining life-changing injuries. They may have tetraplegia or even quadriplegia and are often seen at their bedside. Having delivered the service for many years our Advice Worker is very familiar with the types of issues people frequently face in such circumstances - not just benefits but also employment and housing. The long-term funding for the service (from Stewarts Law) which supported 67 clients during the year,will end in December 2024 and we are working to identify an alternative
Mental Health Advice Service
Citizens Advice Sheffield have been undertaking advice work for mental health patients since the mid-1970s when it was recognised that in-patients find it particularly difficult to access advice services. In-patients, the majority of whom have been sectioned, are visited on the wards and the team also supports people with enduring mental health issues living in the community.
In 2023-24 we:
Supported 98 clients in hospital
Supported 215 clients in the community
Generated over £468,000 in additional income
for these clients
Undertook an average of 18 activities on behalf of each
inpatient client, far higher than the other hospital
based services due to the particular needs of this client group
Immigration advice
Jakub’s story
We first met Jakub in November 2021 when he wanted advice on regularising his immigration status under the EU settlement scheme. He had been homeless for 4.5 years with no fixed abode or contact details – we were reliant on his friend for contact and unfortunately this meant we lost touch with him.
In May 2022 he came back to us via our mental health advice team as he had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act. As we sought to establish details of his residence in the UK since 2017 and of his identity (as he had no documents) it became clear that he had been a victim of trafficking, and had been exploited by his previous “friends” and subjected to modern day slavery. Over the next two years we provided in-depth casework, firstly to have Jakub formally recognised as a victim of trafficking, then to have the requirement for evidence of identity waived and then, with detailed evidence from his mental health team, to identify his vulnerability and explain why evidence of residence was not available for the required periods. It took over 200 case notes and interactions with Citizens Advice Sheffield but Jakub was finally granted EU settled status in 2024 which enables him to access housing and mainstream benefits.
Access to immigration advice
There is a serious shortage of immigration advice across the UK and Sheffield is no exception. We are one of a very small number of organisations providing free immigration advice in Sheffield and, unlike others who specialise in a particular area, our team are able to provide advice on all areas of immigration law up to OISC level 3 but the demand is far higher than we can meet. There is an even greater lack of legal aid advice so even those who should be able to access legal aid for specific immigration and asylum issues are now turning to us.
Our team of five specialist advisers dealt with 963 distinct immigration queries for 925 clients, with a total of 18560 issues and 19744 client interactions. We see not just people turning to us when they first need advice as there is nowhere else to go but also when they have either tried to self-help or received poor and potentially unregulated advice already. In these circumstances we are trying to unpick the consequences of poor/bad advice. Lack of immigration status impacts ability to access benefits, housing, employment etc so clients will often need support from other specialists within Citizens Advice Sheffield too.
In the last year we have seen increased numbers of enquiries from those on skilled worker visas, mainly those on Health and Care Visas, who are living in poverty and require advice on removing the “no recourse to public funds condition”. There have also been increasing numbers of those subject to exploitation and trafficking and a greater number of people are requesting advice on fee waivers and citizenship applications. The demand far exceeds what we can meet so during the year we were delighted to secure funding from the Access to Justice Foundation to help us improve access to legal advice for marginalised groups. We also established a network of organisations involved with immigration advice in Sheffield with the goal of maximising available resources by working together as effectively as possible.
Finally it’s important to note the highly politicised environment that surrounds immigration advice which can take its toll on our staff and volunteers, particularly during times of heightened tension such as the racist riots that took place in Summer 2024.
Energy advice
Robert’s story
Robert lives alone in his rented one bedroomed council property. Following bereavements he has been experiencing depression which made it hard for him to deal with his finances and debts started building up. Robert is expecting to inherit some money from the sale of his parents’ property but probably not for some time as probate will be needed.
The adviser spent time understanding Robert’s situation, his current benefits and where he owed money which included Council Tax, a loan and possibly his energy supplier though this was unclear due to problems with his smart meter.
Over several weeks our adviser:
- Arranged for Robert to be added to the Priority Services Register with his energy supplier
- Arranged for his Council Tax debt to be put on hold
- Submitted an application for a Discretionary Housing Payment and Council Tax hardship payment (which paid off his council tax debt)
- Liaised with his energy supplier to resolve the confusion over his account and agree a new payment plan
- Liaised with the loan company who agreed to write off his outstanding debt
- Reviewed his benefits and supported him to apply for PIP.
Robert now has a clear budget and is receiving his full entitlement. He feels less anxious about money and confident he can now stay on top of things.
The need for energy advice
The energy crisis has been driven by the wholesale gas prices surge and the lack of energy inefficiency of much of the UK’s housing stock. Although the price cap on fuel has reduced this year, it is still estimated that there are currently 6 million households in fuel poverty in the UK, compared to 4.5 million in October 2021.
Funding from the British Gas Energy Trust and Northern Powergrid enabled us to establish a dedicated energy service which includes specialist debt advisers and benefits advisers and also provides energy efficiency advice. We work to support clients with fuel debts or who are in, or at risk of, fuel poverty.
We work closely with Sheffield City Council’s Community Services team and other energy services, such as Leap, The Green Doctor, NEA and Sheffield Warm Homes. We’re able to process fuel voucher applications and support clients to apply for grants from fuel providers and for white goods from the British Gas Energy Trust.
This year we set up the Energy Affordability telephone line in conjunction with Leeds and Newcastle Citizens Advice to improve access to the service – callers are offered an initial Energy assessment and fuel efficiency advice and signposted to relevant internal and external advice and services.
The service also undertakes outreach at events to reach people struggling with fuel costs who may not be aware of the help on offer. Our Volunteer Carl attends the Moor Market every Wednesday alongside the city council’s cost of living team to provide easy to access guidance about the support available.
1019 clients were helped by our energy advice services during the year which resulted in £66,110 in additional income secured and over £616k in debts written off enabling people to get back on track and significantly reducing stress and anxiety.
Citizens Advice Sheffield also delivers part of the national Consumer Energy Service – every month our energy consumer advisers supported over 1,500 clients to resolve problems with their energy bills or supply.
Housing advice
Dawn’s story
Dawn is a single mum and was living in private rented accommodation with her 3 dependent children. Her landlord wanted the property back and issued a section 21 notice (often called a no-fault eviction) and applied to court for a possession order. We successfully assisted Dawn to apply to the courts for the maximum delay to the order of 6 weeks to give her time to look for alternative accommodation.
We then helped Dawn to make a homeless application to Sheffield City Council who accepted a duty of housing towards her and her children. Unfortunately Dawn was initially placed some distance away from her previous home which caused significant issues as her youngest child has ADHD and had a good support plan in place at his current school and her daughter has mental health issues which were considerably exacerbated by the loss of a nearby support network. We prepared the review submission for Dawn and the decision was over-turned. Dawn has now been returned to the priority housing list and is in a position to bid for suitable accommodation for her and her family.
‘When I first came to you I was homeless and had no idea what I was to do next…. my life was turned upside down.Since then you’ve managed to assist me … I’m now in a position to move again!!… I can’t thank you enough’
Our housing team
Our solicitor-led team of three carry out work under a Legal Aid contract which means they work on very specific issues set out in the contract, primarily eviction and homelessness. The work includes preparing court applications, drafting witness statements, providing representation at court, assisting with homeless applications and preparing reviews challenging the council’s decisions.
Once they have established that a case fits the contract’s criteria the team also need to ensure each client is eligible and obtain proof of their income. This has become much easier since Universal Credit was introduced and clients can access their journals and provide a copy of their most recent statement.
In 2023/24 we successfully closed 185 cases with a positive outcome of the client either retaining their home or being rehoused.
Our impact in 2023-2024
Our advice services (excluding the consumer service) supported 18,614 clients in the year. While this is slightly fewer than in 22-23, the number of issues we advised on increased to 78,396 reflecting the increasing complexity of individual people’s circumstances and the multiple challenges they face. The diagram below enables you to see how many clients with one type of issue also had another specific type of issue.
Many of the outcomes for our clients are hard to measure
- the reduction in stress from knowing your debts have been dealt with
- the impact on health when you can afford to buy enough food and switch the heating on
However we are often able to capture hard financial outcomes. In 23/24 we supported our clients to claim at least £13,149,652 in benefits and grants and to write off £1,403,379 of debt. We estimate that overall our advice service in Sheffield had a public value in excess of £54 million in 23/24 through reducing evictions, improved physical and mental health leading to reductions in use of health services, improved family relationships and improved emotional wellbeing. That’s £11.66 for every £1 spent.
Community Trainers
2023-24 saw the establishment of our new Community Training programme – a key element of our efforts to improve access to advice.
We deliver training to upskill staff and volunteers working on the frontline of any public facing local service to support people in the community. Community training aims to support people in non-advice roles to:
- Gather information and spot advice issues
- Use online tools and information resources
- Provide information and signposting
- Know when and how to refer for advice
- Find relevant local and national services
- Increase skills and knowledge in practical areas such as budgeting and benefits
In its first year the programme offered 3 courses:
- What Citizens Advice does and how to access help and support (2 hours)
- Helping People with Budgeting (2.5 hours)
- Basic Introduction to Welfare Benefits (3 hours)
Our impact extends beyond the individuals we advise through our wider influencing work. This includes meeting regularly with Sheffield’s MPs to raise awareness of the issues our clients face to working with local Councillors and staff from both the city council and NHS organisations.
The courses are developed based on discussions with community organisations about what they need and are designed to be interactive and engaging. Courses can be delivered for a cohort from one organisation or people can join mixed sessions held in the city centre.
Between the start of the project (first sessions delivered May 2023) and summer 2024, 610 people attended training from 105 organisations across 83 sessions
‘The adviser who helped with my problem was kind, considerate and made the process less stressful. I felt like he reduced a huge burden I had felt.’
‘I was so grateful for the adviser’s help. He gave me loads of helpful information, was really thorough and reassuring and made me feel so much less anxious about my situation. Talking to him was really a turning point in feeling able to cope with the financial impact of my health conditions.’
Case studies:
Zest
We have delivered a number of sessions with them at their centre and at The Vine Welcome Space including What Citizens Advice does and how to access help and support and Helping People with Budgeting. We had great feedback and after the budgeting session they emailed to say they were going to put it into action straight away with their members. Zoe, Zest’s Community Worker said:
‘We used the budget sheets as part of an English Conversation Class with community members for whom English was not their first language. The women found it helpful and engaging to set out their income and outgoings to help them think about their own finances. We also discussed looking at Entitled to. Someone messaged to say “Thank you so much for your useful contribution”.’
St Mary’s
We have delivered all our sessions with the Support Buddy team at St Mary’s Community Centre on Bramall Lane. They said our sessions have really helped them to understand better where to look for relevant information to help their members. They also commented that knowing what information to ask for from members has really helped them to help people more effectively. One of the volunteers said: “we have been greatly assisted by your input, it has increased our knowledge and therefore our confidence a great deal”.
One volunteer described being able to support a client with a grant application after attending our budgeting course. Another described how a lady came to them with money issues, feeling very anxious. They helped her access the benefits she’s entitled to and to get a reduction in her council tax.
Quotes:
I thought both training sessions were brilliant, pitched at the right level and really tailored…. I have referred 2 clients to CA Sheffield so far.
I enjoyed attending as I have learnt a lot today. I feel like I have more confidence in helping people in the future.
Excellent interactive session. Really clear content which is very useable with people I support
An excellent course. Really tailored, engaging and at the right level of info. Good exercises
I really liked the interactive element of the course and how it opened discussion and encouraged people to contribute ideas, questions and opinions
Our volunteers
Volunteers make a vital difference to the services we’re able to provide and we’re delighted to have recruited new adviser volunteers over the last year as well as corporate volunteers from Aviva who are helping to raise awareness of the help we can offer at community events. This year we also plan to welcome student volunteers and to develop new roles.
Our volunteers bring a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds to their role – some are retired, others looking to develop skills. Some speak community languages, some bring particular skills from their working lives, some have recently joined us while others have volunteered for many years – all make a huge contribution and we want to say thank you to them all.
Diana has shared her story of volunteering for Citizens Advice Sheffield:
Volunteering – best decision I ever made!
I began volunteering at Citizens Advice Sheffield (CAS) after I retired. During my early retirement I was looking after my mother who had Alzheimer’s. After her death ten years ago, I contacted CAS and applied to be a volunteer. I had worked in Education all my life – as a science teacher, then a Local Authority Inspector, a professor running the School of Education in a University and finally as a civil servant in the Department for Education. I knew nothing about benefits whatsoever. However, CAS gave me excellent training and mentoring and support, being patient with my mistakes and encouraging me to develop and eventually specialise. As someone who knew a great deal about education and training it was important that I could respect and learn from the training I was given. I have never been disappointed. Between formal training and mentoring I have learnt so much.
I volunteered because I felt I had been very fortunate in life. I had a stable childhood, the benefit of an excellent and extended education and a variety of life experience. Others had helped me to become the person I was through different jobs and support. I wanted to pay something back. As a retiree, the opportunity to keep learning, particularly in a completely new field has enhanced both my thinking and my life. New friends, new problems to solve. It focuses my mind and makes me glad to get up in the morning. I began as a general adviser offering advice at face-to-face drop in sessions and learnt my skills with the help of numerous colleagues.
Now a decade in, I am beginning to support my colleagues in the way that others supported me. I now specialise in tribunal work – mainly for benefits – and offer my colleagues support in their journey from original claim to appealing to tribunals. They shadow me at a tribunal – as a volunteer I have the luxury of time to be able to attend in person – and then discuss their submission. I am privileged to be able to design and deliver, with other colleagues, training for advisers who want to be able to take on tribunal work. I am also very proud that over the last 10 years I have worked on 185 tribunals across a range of benefits, and currently have a further 13 in process. The impact on my clients speaks for itself. In addition to providing support and understanding and helping them to share their issues with the DWP better, in 2023-24, I enabled my clients to recover £131,876 of benefit entitlement, and recorded an appeal success rate of 87%. As well as appeals I assist with benefit claims forms for clients who need help with completion and support the employment team in Citizens Advice Sheffield.
These quotes from Diana’s clients illustrate just how much of an impact our volunteers have:
I have been working with Diana on a PIP appeal, which I wouldn’t have been able to win without her time, dedication, knowledge - she has been absolutely superb and is an asset to your team
Diana has the knowledge, logic, compassion and many more positive words I could attach, to be able to fairly represent myself and others when in such desperation for help and guidance. [She’s] helped me move some mountains and boulders in life I just could not get over and had given up, until my presenting problem/s were discussed and actioned quickly by Diana.
Hannah’s story
I began studying part time with the Open University to further my interest in law and to provide me with skills to be able to help people. Through this I was presented with an opportunity to volunteer at my local Citizens Advice where I could utilise some of the skills obtained. I had been supported by Citizens Advice previously when I was diagnosed with a health condition that greatly limited my ability to work and had a huge impact on my life, so I jumped at the chance to give back.
I was concerned my health would be an issue but this has never been a problem. I was fully supported during my volunteering and enjoyed being able to help clients. Realising the difference I was making in people’s lives motivated me to want to learn more and I was given the opportunity for extra training. As a result of this support, I felt able to apply for a paid position and began working for Citizens Advice Sheffield part time alongside my continuing studying. I have progressed through different roles as I have continued to expand my knowledge and taken on more complex cases. I have been able to slowly increase my hours and help more clients.
When I began nearing the end of my University degree, I approached a supervisor about discussing opportunities to further my learning and I was made aware of an apprenticeship that would mean I could progress my law studies to the next level and ultimately become a solicitor. I was excited about the opportunity to merge my work and study and Citizens Advice Sheffield shared my enthusiasm. The encouragement motivated me through the last part of my degree and thanks to the support I have received, I started the apprenticeship in August.
Citizens Advice has had such a positive impact on me, from a client, to a volunteer, to a paid worker. I am proud to be able to use my skills and knowledge to work alongside fantastic colleagues and contribute to helping clients who rely on us and to be part of the continuous positive impact on people’s lives.
Hannah is one of almost 200 paid staff who work for Citizens Advice Sheffield, between them bringing decades of experience and expertise as well as knowledge of Sheffield’s diverse communities.
Our data shows that our paid workforce as a whole has a greater proportion of staff from minoritised communities than the city as a whole, reflecting a similar overrepresentation in our client groups. These charts were published in our Annual report and Accounts and show that while disability and gender splits are broadly consistent across the organisation we do have less diversity in ethnicity at more senior levels in the organisation, something we are actively working to address.
Citizens Advice Sheffield is committed to becoming a more inclusive employer. We are a disability friendly level 1 employer and are working towards our level 2 accreditation. We use inclusive language in our job adverts and during the interview process we proactively offer and make reasonable adjustments as required. We are signed up to the race at work charter and this coming year we hope to achieve the Autism Inclusion Award.
Our Board of Trustees
Citizens Advice Sheffield is governed by a board of up to 15 trustees who have overall responsibility for ensuring the organisation delivers its key purpose for the public benefit in line with our Memorandum and Articles.
Our trustees come from a mix of commercial, public, academic and voluntary sector backgrounds. They are currently split equally between male and female and spread across a wide age range from 35 upwards.
At the end of March 2024 Mark Gamsu stepped down as Chair after nearly 8 years in the role. He remains as a trustee and we want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank him for everything he did as Chair during what were certainly some challenging times (such as the pandemic) and thank him for his ongoing commitment. We were delighted that Debbie Mathews agreed to take on the role of Chair in April 2024. Having retired last year from her role leading Manor and Castle Development Trust, Debbie brings invaluable experience and knowledge of Sheffield, its people and the local voluntary sector.
Financial overview
2023-24 saw considerable growth in our services as we received additional funding to reach more marginalised groups and support people through the ongoing cost of living challenges. Our full accounts are available online – the topline figures below show our income exceeded £6 million for the first time – this included restricted funds paid in advance for projects continuing into 24-25.
Thank you
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners and funders this year – we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the support and collaboration of many individuals and organisations large and small. There isn’t room to list everyone but over the last year this has included:
British Gas Energy Trust
Access to Justice Foundation
Aviva
Citizens Advice
Legal Aid Agency
NHS South Yorkshire
Northern Powergrid
Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield City Council
Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
South Yorkshire Housing Association
Trussell Trust
UK Government
Voluntary Action Sheffield
Weston Park Cancer Centre
Citizens Advice Sheffield is a charity, and this report has set out how we have helped people in 2023-24. As a local charity, we rely on support to provide free, independent and impartial advice to thousands of people in Sheffield every year. With your help we’ll be able to help many more of the people who urgently need us.
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