Charity has busiest year ever as it meets rising demand for help amid cost-of-living crisis

• Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire helped 7,280 people in 2023/24 – a 23% increase on the year before
• This rise comes as demand for help grows amid the cost-of-living crisis
• But it is also because the charity itself is growing and has capacity to help more people

REPORT: Our Impact in 2024: The difference we make to South Gloucestershire

A South Gloucestershire advice charity has had its busiest year ever – helping more and more people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire helped 7,280 people in 2023/24 – a 23% increase on the year before.

This means more people than ever in the county need help with problems such as benefits, debt, housing, employment, relationship breakdown and cost-of-living issues.

But the rise also reflects the charity’s growth as the size of its team is growing and it is taking on new projects to reach new groups of people who need help.

The figures are laid out in Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire’s latest annual Impact Report – titled “The Difference We Make In South Gloucestershire”.

Key figures from our busiest year

The charity, based in Yate, saved clients £16 million during the year – through channels including income gain, reimbursements and debts written off.

This means the charity on average puts more than £2,000 back in the pocket of each person it helps.

During the year, it helped people through around 300 face-to-face drop-in sessions in Yate, Cadbury Heath, Stoke Gifford, Lyde Green, Thornbury, Bradley Stoke and Emersons Green. It has since added a session in Staple Hill and Mangotsfield.

Advisers also had more than 8,000 telephone calls with the people it helped as well as exchanging more than 2,000 emails.

January 2024 was the charity’s busiest month for cost-of-living issues to date – and during this month we helped around ten times as many clients needing foodbanks and charitable support as we did in the same month in 2019 (85 compared to eight).

Our Impact Report also sets out aspects such as the value of volunteering – with Volunteers contributing more than 10,000 hours to the charity per year.

It highlights ways in which the cost of living crisis affects some groups more significantly than others – for example, a disproportionately high number of the charity’s clients have a disability or long-term health condition.

And it also pays tribute to the 42 organisations who have funded the charity as well as the many individuals who have donated including for sponsored challenges such as the team’s Cotswold Way Ultra Challenge walk and Bristol 10K run.

The report can be read on the charity’s website here.

‘We can reach new groups who need us’

Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire CEO Chantal Watts said: “We are proud to be able to share with you our annual Impact Report which shows the charity is helping more people than ever before.

“Sadly this is in part a reflection of the fact more and more people are struggling, with the cost-of-living crisis far from over for many in South Gloucestershire. People who were previously able to draw on savings to weather the storm are now having to come to us for foodbank help.

“But the rise in numbers helped is also due to the fact our charity is expanding to take on more Advisers and projects – meaning we can reach new groups of people who need us.

“We would like to thank our team for all their work this year as well as all of the organisations and individuals credited in the report for their generous support which allows us to continue our vital services for the community.”

Published 31/03/25.