50 years of helping the community – Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire’s anniversary
Recent photo of many of the charity’s current team
- Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire will celebrate its 50th anniversary on 4th April. It was formerly Northavon Citizens Advice Bureau and registered on in 1974
- The charity recently had its busiest year on record – helping more than 6,000 in 2023
- The charity is celebrating its milestone with memories from Volunteers and Staff – including an arson incident in 2003 which saw the office sustain smoke damage
A vital advice charity in South Gloucestershire will celebrate its 50th anniversary on 4th April.
Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire has been providing invaluable advice to people in the region since 1974.
The charity – which now helps more than 6,000 people per year – is marking the event by putting forward the memories and experiences of long-standing Volunteers and Staff.
One former Adviser described the charity as a “very worthwhile” cause – which requires the support of the public to continue.
Finance and Admin Manager Amanda speaks on the anniversary
Amanda Wood is Finance and Admin Manager and celebrated her 25th anniversary of working at the charity last year (March 2023).
This means she has worked with the organisation for more than half its existence.
She said: “The charity is so important, providing free and impartial help and advice to all residents of South Gloucestershire.”
“We are totally reliant on grants and donations to provide our services. Without these grants and donations we would cease to exist and without us people would have no where else to turn in times of need.”
When asked about changes during her time, she said: “The two biggest changes have been how everything is now digital.
“Firstly, when I started, the information system was in paper form and consisted of lever arch files on a big carousel in the main office.
“Every month we would receive updates and all these had to be done manually. No mean feat!
“Secondly was the introduction of digital client records. Initially the system was called CASE and then it changed to Petra and this was eventually replaced by our current system, called Casebook. Prior to this all client records were written up by hand in paper form.”
The Casebook system allows national Citizens Advice to monitor trends across local Citizens Advice offices across the country.
In this way, work done helping clients every day at Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire feeds into national campaigns.
Recent examples have included Citizens Advice’s campaigning around prepayment meters and negative budgets – where clients’ income is not enough to cover the essentials.
As the anniversary is marked – what has stayed the same?
Speaking on what has stayed the same, Amanda said: “I think the main types of advice we give has remained constant throughout my whole time here, with benefits and debt still being the most common issues.”
Amanda works with a team of around 20 staff and around 20 volunteers.
She said: “I have enjoyed meeting all sorts of different people from varying backgrounds during my time here. I am especially looking forward to moving to our new premises later in the year.”
Newspaper cuttings from over the years detail the charity’s struggles with the size of its premises – which has been too small to meet demand for a long time.
The charity is now on the cusp of moving to a new home in order to double the number of clients it can help each week as well as providing more accessible facilities.
It is set to move to a larger office in Station Road, Yate by the end of 2024 – and is fundraising for the costs of renovating the new property.
In the 50 years it has been in operation, the charity has overcome spells of stretched funding and limitations in its office space to provide a strong, consistent service to the people of South Gloucestershire.
Arson attack
In 2003, the Yate office was subject to an arson attack when someone put a lit object through the letterbox, causing smoke damage throughout the space.
Amanda said: “We suffered an arson attack on 22nd June 2003. The reception area and main office were the worst areas affected with black soot everywhere.
“Some staff worked out of our then Thornbury Office for a couple of months while the office was renovated. I think we also provided some drop in sessions at Yate Library.”
The charity provides advice from its office in Yate as well as face-to-face sessions in Bradley Stoke, Emersons Green, Thornbury, Cadbury Heath and Stoke Gifford.
‘Very worthwhile’
“A lot of people think Citizens Advice is run by the Government and they don’t realise it is a charity,” said Edna Cooper, 81, from Chipping Sodbury, who volunteered with the charity in the 1990s.
She was based in Yate at Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire before volunteering with Citizens Advice Selby in North Yorkshire, giving a total of 24 years.
Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire has been based at the same premises near Yate Leisure Centre since Edna was a Volunteer.
She said : “I can’t believe how small the office is. There were times when it was completely packed. People would be standing outside. 30 years on and it hasn’t changed at all.
Speaking on her reasons for starting volunteering with the charity, Edna said: “We had just moved to this area. Our eldest son had just gone to university and I needed to exercise my brain.
“I’ve just always been interested in Citizens Advice and I just felt it was a very worthwhile thing to do.
“I would say the biggest change was when we brought in computers. Before that, everything was written up by hand and we looked everything up in the paperwork. That was a big change.”
She said the most common problems clients needed help with when she was a Volunteer were debt and benefits. These remain the biggest issues for the charity today.
Anniversary timeline
- April 1974 – Registered as a charity (Northavon Citizens Advice Bureau)
- May 1978 – Thornbury office opened
- Dec 1988 – Lease for current premises (ground floor only)
- October 1994 – Lease for current premises (both floors)
- February 1996 – Changed its name to South Gloucestershire Citizens Advice Bureau
- June 2003 – Arson attack. No one was hurt but the entire office space was affected
- October 2017 – Changed its name to Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire
- January 2019 – Visit from HRH Princess Anne – who went to Thornbury and met Staff and Volunteers
- January 2020 – Thornbury office closed due to Thornbury Town Council needing our offices for the Police
- July 2022 – Staple Hill office closed due to funding constraints
- 2023 – New advice sessions launched on Mondays in Yate and Thursdays in Emersons Green thanks to funding from Yate and Emersons Green parish councils
- 2023 was also the busiest year on record with more than 6,000 clients helped
- 2024 is set to be the year the charity moves to a larger premises in Station Road, Yate. The charity has so far raised around £30,000 but needs to raise another £52,000 for purposes such as splitting the space into eight new interview rooms, making new bathroom facilities and signage. To donate towards the costs of renovating the new building, please go to: https://www.southgloscab.org.uk/get-involved/donatetoday/our-premises-appeal/
