Citizens Advice held its AGM today (14th October) at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast with the Minister for Justice, David Ford as guest speaker at the event.
The Minister said: "Citizens Advice offers such an important and varied service to the people of Northern Ireland and carries out its work with such professionalism and dedication. It is hugely respected for the way it has touched the lives of so many for so long."
At the Citizens Advice AGM are from left to right: Alayne Kinver, Director of Development, Citizens Advice, Derek Alcorn, Chief Executive, Citizens Advice, Minister for Justice, David Ford and John Devine, Chair, Citizens Advice.
Over the last yeart the charity has helped more than 92,000 people deal with 321,000 issues, including social security benefits, tax credits, money advice and debt, employment, housing, health, consumer and more. Citizens Advice continues to experience the pressure of demand for its services as a result of the current economic recession. Benefit queries continue to be the single largest area of work, accounting for over 56% of total isssues dealt with by advisers, and is an area that demonstrates the complex nature of the work undertaken by the organisation. The charity has also seen an increase of 7% in its money advice work.
Derek Alcorn, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice said: "Our message to the Government is that we are here to help and the need for the services offered by CAB has never been greater. The forthcoming spending review will undoubtedly contract public services and announcements about welfare reform will mean that more and more people will need a trusted third party inermediary like CAB. Citizens Advice provides an essential interface between the public and public services."
Attendees at the event also heard from Gareth Neill of Grant Thornton about research into the economic and social benefits of debt advice. This research highlighted the overall importance of good quality debt advice and the many benefits that comes from it, not only for individuals but for the wider economy as a whole. Gareth said: "The work of debt advisers actually saves peoples lives and makes a real difference to them and their families. An adviser who helps a client with their debt problems can save that person's life, can put families back together and also helps the children in these families. Time spent helping people address their debt problems can help their overall health and wellbeing, help their financial management and reduce their use of social and medical services."
In the afternoon session Angila Chada from the Charity Commission spoke to delegates about the work of the Commission and the key changes which will be introduced to increase public trust in charities. Angila said: "We recognise that times are hard but these changes will bring a new level of public trust and confidence to charities."
During the last year Citizens Advice continued to work with key partners which has realised significant achievements for clients. The organisation completed the 2009/10 Benefit Uptake programme in partnership with the Social Security Agency which helped vulnerable people identify and claim £6.1 million in social security benefits. The impact of this money on the local economy in a recession cannot be understated. In addition, over the same period the Dealing with Debt service funded by DETI has helped over 2,500 clients with over £33 million of debt.