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Jeremy Quin MP visits Citizens Advice Horsham
We were delighted to be joined again at our Horsham centre in September by Jeremy Quin MP. Mr Quin takes an active interest in the community and is keen to understand the issues and concerns people have. He met the Horsham team and discussed with them the issues that clients present, such as difficulties when transferring from DLA to PIP, Brexit anxiety, particularly among EU nationals living and working locally, and homelessness provision.
We continue to keep Mr Quin up to date with emerging trends, and provide any support we can.
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New Information Hub opens in Haywards Heath
In October we were pleased to open a new Information Hub at our centre in Haywards Heath, making our service in the town even more accessible for clients. As well as being able to drop in to talk to advisers, people can now use a range of resources including our library of materials, computers and telephones to research problems they may be worried about, guided by volunteers at the centre.
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Successful service for probationers ends
Unfortunately, the probation project we delivered in partnership with Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice, to provide advice for local people on probation, has come to an end due to lack of funding. Sam Tippins gave specially tailored advice to probationers in clinics at both Crawley and Worthing probation offices. Sam’s invaluable advice has given enormous help to clients, including a successful appeal against a housing decision, which gave a client a permanent roof over their head, prompting them to sign up for a new training course and also to take part in a charity event. Such positive steps have contributed to them not reoffending.
Clients are now seen as part of the existing service provision, but advice is not tailored in the same way and probationers may feel they have nowhere to go. We will be monitoring the impact of the loss of this service.
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Great outcomes we've achieved for our clients
Citizens Advice East Grinstead:
The team have been working with a terminally ill client, in a complicated and lengthy case. The client has been working in this country for many years, but their homeless application was turned down because their immigration status was unknown. Applications for the disability benefits Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) were also turned down on this basis. The team pushed to resolve these issues and were able to secure accommodation for the client, as well as getting both PIP and ESA awarded and backdated. Their tireless efforts have made a huge impact on the client's circumstances.
Crawley Homeless Prevention and Money Advice Service:
Adviser Jan helped a vulnerable client living in temporary accommodation. The client was unable to read or write, and had not been able to continue with their employment due to deteriorating health. They also had unaffordable debt. A Debt Relief Order was completed, leading to more than £7,000 debt being written off. This in turn meant that the client has been housed in local authority sheltered accommodation.
Macmillan Welfare Rights Service:
Adviser Hilary worked with a client for more than six months, assisting with their appeal for Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The client won the case at Tribunal and was awarded the Daily Living part of PIP. This means £4,500 in back payments to the client, as well as an ongoing award of £82 per week. Not only this, but the client also gained an additional premium of £2,500 in back payments and an ongoing award of £62 per week.
Employment successes
Employment specialist Mike achieved nearly £39,000 at Tribunal for employees of a local care home. The client was the lead party in a group claim; seven staff of the care home hadn't been paid the required redundancy when the owner decided to close. The Tribunal costs were also refunded.
In another employment case, specialist Martin helped a director of a large organisation to appeal their redundancy. The appeal was finally heard by independent Trustees, and resulted in the client's dismissal being overturned. They are now reinstated in their old position.
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News from the national Citizens Advice conference
In September a team from CaSSCA attended the yearly national conference held by Citizens Advice, at Warwick University. Here, we learned about what is being developed nationally and to ensure we are all working towards the 'One Service' strategy. Crawley volunteer, Dipesh Palana, said about the two-day event:
‘The theme of the conference was ‘Staying Ahead in a Changing World’. We got to hear about how the national service intends to meet the challenges of the future, and share experiences with other local Citizens Advice services.
Despite a packed schedule there was still time to socialise and make friends with staff and volunteers from across the country. We heard from some tremendously interesting speakers - we even met Martin Lewis! - and had the chance to give our own feedback. I had a fantastic time, and I’d like to thank CaSSCA for giving me the opportunity to attend.
I would thoroughly recommend the occasion to other volunteers who may be interested in participating next year.’
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Welcomes, goodbyes and congratulations
A very warm welcome to the volunteers and staff who have joined us in recent months. We look forward to working with you!
New volunteers:
Burgess Hill: Gemma, Natalie, Les, Ian and John
Crawley: Diana, Sidra, Joanne and Shumaila
East Grinstead: Carol, Helen, Frances, Abigail and Julia
Horsham: Liz, Lindsey, Linda, Kim, Sally, Barrie, Graham, Genevieve, Trudie, Sandra and Peter
Haywards Heath: Anne-Mette, Judith and Eguono
Shoreham-by-Sea: Mick, Liz, Tandy, Charis, Nadia, Frances, Tini, Jean, Bassam and Lavinia
Worthing: Maureen, Jane, Ciara, Adrie, Martha, Susie, Patrick, Abi, Angela and Emilia
New Trustees: Sarah Trowbridge, Mark Maund, Irene Campbell
University of Sussex Law School students: Eleanor, Elizabeth, Ho Yan, Nicholas, Elizabeth, Laetitia, Katie, Barbora, Abigail, Alexandra, Abigail, Charlotte and Kevin
New staff:
Client Services Team Leader: Shaun Fawcett (welcome back!)
Business and Finance Manager: Steve Cox
Business and Support Services Manager: Charlotte Carp
We’ve said goodbye to some valued members of our team, and we’ll miss them tremendously. We've highlighted a few achievements below but please note that everyone's dedication to clients, and contribution to our service, is hugely appreciated. Thank you for all your hard work, and we wish you well in the future.
Leaving volunteers:
Burgess Hill: Peter and Angela. Angela was with us for an amazing 30 years, both as an adviser, and also in the invaluable role of organising our library of materials
East Grinstead: Beverley, who had been with us for 11 years and became an employment specialist, and Vivien, who was with us for 9 years and spent particular time working on Adviceline.
Haywards Heath: Oliver, a law graduate who went on to further study and experience, Francesca and Jackie
Horsham: Chloe
Shoreham: Steve, who was part of our team for 12 years, and Christianne
Worthing: Stuart, Catherine, Janet and Rikesh
Leaving staff:
Interim Communications Officer (covering maternity leave): Dipesh Palana (although we’re delighted that Dipesh remains with us as a volunteer)
ICAS Team Leader: Ben Dolley
Probation Service Assessor/Adviser: Sam Tippins
Interim Senior Manager: Helle Sorensen
We’d like to offer our congratulations to those who have recently passed their training to become assessors and advisers. Thank you for all the time and hard work that you've put in!
Gateway Assessor: Linda (Horsham), Caroline (Shoreham), Mandi (East Grinstead), Denise (Haywards Heath), Diane (Lancing), Heather (Lancing), Jonathon (Shoreham), Jennie (MacMillan team), Tony (Horsham).
Adviser: Sally (Horsham)
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Lee Furlong, Client Services Manager, appearing on BBC South and BBC South East Today on November 25th, talking about renters' rights when getting repairs made to their property.
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We've been out in the local community
Worthing supervisor Lyzette Hanna was part of a high profile panel at the Sussex Salon event at the Brighton Dome on Tuesday, November 22nd. The discussion topic was 'Who Should Pay for Access to Justice?', and Lyzette gave perspective from Citizens Advice. There were 100 people in the audience for this ticketed event, and Lyzette received excellent feedback. We're delighted that we can take part in events such as this to raise the profile of CaSSCA and the work we're doing in the community.
A team of volunteers and staff took part in the Chichester Legal Walk in September, organised by the London Legal Support Trust to raise money for local advice services. The event was great fun, and the team, consisting of Dipesh Palana, Kate Shillingford, Mark Maund, Tony Hepburn and Jackie Hepburn, raised approximately £1,200 for our service, with funds still coming in. A huge thank you to everyone who took part!
We attended the Haywards Heath Town Day in September to raise awareness of our service – many thanks to all the team who volunteered to run the stall on the day.
Barry Carter, supervisor in Horsham, gave a presentation to the Roffey Over 60s Club in November about our service.
Marilyn Walker, volunteer in Haywards Heath, attended the Cuckfield Medical Centre Wellbeing Fair in October to tell people about the service.
A huge thank you to everyone who has attended events and taken part in local activities on our behalf. If you know of an event you think we should have a presence at, please let us know by replying to this email.
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