Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice[1]
Founded1939[2]
TypeCharitable organisation[3]
Registration no.279057[4]
FocusAdvice[3]
Location
  • Head office: Citizens Advice, 3rd Floor North, 200 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4HD[5]
Coordinates51°31′04″N 00°05′51″W / 51.51778°N 0.09750°W / 51.51778; -0.09750
Area served
United Kingdom 316 branches nationally.[4]
MethodTelephone, face to face, e-mail, webchat
Key people
Clare Moriarty (Chief Executive)[6]
Revenue
£99 million (2016/2017)[7]
Employees7,000[8]
Volunteers
21,600[4] (2015)
Websitewww.citizensadvice.org.uk

Citizens Advice[n 1] (previously Citizens Advice Bureau[9][n 2] and also known as Cyngor ar Bopeth[n 3] in Welsh[10]) is an independent organisation specialising in confidential information and advice to assist people with legal, debt, consumer, housing and other problems in the United Kingdom.[11][12]

The twin aims of the Citizens Advice service are "to provide the advice people need for the problems they face"[13] and secondly "to improve the policies and principles that affect people's lives".[13] This research and campaigns agenda also known as "social policy" [14] is more preventative in nature and designed to stop problems arising in the first place.

Citizens Advice organisations emerged in the 1930s linked to the emergence of a fledgling social welfare service and the outbreak of World War II.[15] Public funding for the organisation was cut following the war but restored during the 1960s and a government grant in 1973 allowed the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB) to expand the charity.[15] Citizens Advice has grown to be the largest independent advice provider in the United Kingdom.[16] There are also a number of Citizens Advice organisations that base themselves on the United Kingdom advice charity mainly in parts of the Commonwealth including Australia,[17] New Zealand,[18] and Gibraltar.[19]

In 2013 the Citizens Advice Adviceguide website was visited by one third of United Kingdom's online population[10] and Citizens Advice's own research shows that four in ten of the British population contact Citizens Advice at some point during their lives.[20] In 2014 Citizens Advice celebrated its 75th anniversary[21] and in 2015 the charity was named Charity of the Year at the 2015 Charity Awards.[22] During the ten year leadership of the former Chief Executive Gillian Guy Citizens Advice expanded its remit taking on the contract for the Witness Service[23] and the face-to-face advice element of Pension Wise.[24]

  1. ^ a b "Citizens Advice launches £1m rebrand and modernisation programme and drops the word 'bureau'". Civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  2. ^ "History of the Citizens Advice service". Citizens Advice. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b "National Association of Citizens Advice Bureau - Directory of charities and suppliers". Civil Society. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Citizens Advice annual report 2014/15 (PDF) (Report). August 2015.
  5. ^ "Our administrative offices". Citizens Advice. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  6. ^ 02 March 2015, Be the First to Comment. "Gillian Guy to step down as Chief Executive". Citizens Advice.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Annual Report 2016/2017" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  8. ^ "News: WIG are delighted to announce and welcome our latest new members, Bombardier, Citizens Advice and Research Councils UK - The Whitehall & Industry Group". Wig.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Citizens Advice £1m re-brand slammed as 'facile' by Advice UK". Lag.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  10. ^ a b "75 for the 75th appeal |". Blogs.citizensadvice.org.uk. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  11. ^ Jill Insley (3 September 2011). "Citizens Advice cuts threaten the most vulnerable | Money". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  12. ^ "On the front line with the Citizens Advice Bureau". BBC News.
  13. ^ a b "Campaigns". Enfieldcab.org.uk. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Citizens Advice Oxfordshire :: Campaigning". Caox.org.uk. 17 November 2015. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  15. ^ a b "History of the Citizens Advice service". Citizens Advice. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  16. ^ "About". Chelmsford CAB. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  17. ^ "Citizens Advice Bureau - Home". Cabwa.com.au. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  18. ^ "CAB New Zealand- Free Advice". Cab.org.nz. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  19. ^ "gcab". Cab.gi. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  20. ^ "What we do and how we can help". Citizens Advice. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  21. ^ Jack Simpson. "Citizens Advice Bureau 75 year anniversary: Geese too loud? Lost false teeth? We can help! Celebrating seven decades of the CAB | Home News | News". The Independent. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  22. ^ "Citizens Advice named 'Charity of the Year'! | Rural Devon Citizen's Advice Bureau". Ruraldevoncab.org.uk. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  23. ^ "Citizens Advice succeeds Victim Support running £12m-per-year court witness service". Civilsociety.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  24. ^ "Government reveals Pension wise brand for new pensions guidance". Citizens Advice. 12 January 2015. Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.


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