Runners raise £1,200 for advice charity in region ahead of Great Bristol Run

• Runners have raised £1,200 for Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire – surpassing the initial target of £750
• Five runners representing the charity will take part in the 10K part of the Great Bristol Run on May 14
• Runner Megan Wood has seen first-hand the importance of what the charity does and said “everyone could need help”

Runners taking part in a Bristol 10K run have raised more than £1,200 for a South Gloucestershire advice charity.

Five people are running the Great Bristol Run on May 14 and raising sponsorship for Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire.

And their combined total is now £1,207 with over a month to go until the big day. This goes far beyond the initial target of £750 – £150 for each runner.

This is a strong boost for Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire – a local, independent charity dependent on donations and grants.

The funds raised will help it continue its vital work providing independent, impartial, confidential and free advice to anyone who needs it in the area.

Their new target is a combined total of £2,000 – and the charity is appealing for support for the five runners.

The funding will be used to support our free telephone advice service. This allows those who can’t travel to still access advice from anywhere in South Gloucestershire.

Advice offered covers a wide range of areas including benefits, debt, housing and employment.

The charity is increasingly seeing clients about cost-of-living related problems. There has been a 14 per cent increase in people coming to us about this since last year.

Runners’ motivation

Megan Wood is one of the five runners raising funds for the charity – and has so far collected £308 in online donations with a new target of £350.

Megan, 25, an Assistant Psychologist, grew up round the corner from Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire in Yate.

She now lives in Southampton but is coming back to take part in the run for the charity.

Megan has seen first-hand how the charity is able to help with matters such as finances when people have been referred from mental health services.

She is also the daughter of Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire Finance and Admin Manager Amanda Wood – who recently celebrated 25 years of working with the charity.

Megan said: “My mum has worked for Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire for 25 years. I have grown up learning about the importance of what the charity does.

“In the last couple of years – in my life coming out of university and working in mental health – seeing the support the charity offers when people are struggling, I think it’s really important.”

Referring to the cost-of-living crisis and cuts to public services, she said: “Everyone in all walks of life could need help from the charity.”

Megan will take part in the run with her partner Carrick Livingstone, 25, a Policy Adviser at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Other runners raising funds for the charity are Krystal Jarvis, Advisers Maya Prowse Hall and Julien Bristow-Goldschmidt, and Communications Officer Mark Cardwell.

25 years at Citizens Advice

Amanda Wood has been at the charity for more than half its lifetime. It was founded on April 4, 1974 as Northavon Citizens Advice Bureau.

She said: “I find it hard to believe I have been with Citizens Advice for 25 years. The years have flown by.

“I joined initially as an Admin Assistant working only 3 mornings per week to tie in looking after my children.

“As the years passed, I took on more hours and now work full time as the Finance and Admin Manager.

“It’s a lovely place to work and all my colleagues, both staff and volunteers, make every day enjoyable.

“Megan has grown up with Citizens Advice so is very aware of the great work we do and the fact we are a charity.

“It’s wonderful that both she and Carrick are running the 10K to help us raise funds. I know they are both training hard and looking forward to the run.”

In 2022, Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire helped 4,778 people with 22,493 issues.

It saved clients a combined total of £4.4 million – that is the equivalent of £920 back in the pocket of each person we helped.

Support our runners

• The charity is looking for local businesses’ sponsorship of the team’s running vests. Anyone interested in this – or running or donating – should visit: https://www.southgloscab.org.uk/get-involved/great-bristol-run/
• Anyone wanting to run for the charity in the Bath Half in October 2023 should contact Individual Giving Fundraiser Katie Collier at: katie.collier@southgloscab.org.uk 
• Or anyone wanting to run the Great Bristol Run for the charity in May 2024 should contact Katie Collier at: katie.collier@southgloscab.org.uk 
• Anyone in South Gloucestershire seeking free, independent, impartial and confidential advice from Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire can call 0808 278 7947 or visit: southgloscab.org.uk
• Anyone wishing to donate to Citizens Advice South Gloucestershire to help it continue its vital work should visit: https://bit.ly/3kG7HyB