Who we are and what we do

In London there are 30 Citizens Advice Bureaux which deliver services and projects across all 32 boroughs and the City of London. They range in size – the largest Citizens Advice Bureau receiving over £2 million in funding and the smallest receiving less than £100,000.

In 2005/06, they dealt with over 485,000 enquiries from people living or working in the capital spanning issues including debt, welfare benefit information, immigration, employment, consumer, housing and homelessness.

All Citizens Advice Bureaux are members of and supported by Citizens Advice, an independent and national membership organisation. In total, there are 492 Citizens Advice Bureaux across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, all of which are independently registered charities. Together, as the Citizens Advice service, we deliver information and advice through face-to-face, telephone and e-mail services, and online via adviceguide.org.uk. We use clients’ experiences as evidence to inform policymakers and service providers both locally and nationally.

Click here for more information on CAB.

Get involved

Citizens Advice Bureaux have a long history, their brand is well recognised and their advice is trusted. Yet, like other voluntary organisations, they are operating in a fast changing and competitive environment, in which they must find new sources of funding as old ones dry up, find new ways to deliver better services to those that need help most, and recruit and retain committed volunteers and staff to work in bureau or to be trustees.

New openings:

Trustee roles: There're now two vacancies, both in North London. CAB is looking for someone ideally located close to the borough with commercial background, preferably sales and marketing/PR. The commitment will typically be one evening a month attending board meeting and some follow-up work.

PR/Investor Relations: Richmond CAB needs someone with publicity skills to (i) organise a press conference and other publicity activity for the fund raising opera on Richmond Green (Timescale Apr to Jun 2007); and /or to (ii) design The Annual Report (July 2007)

In addition to the positions mentioned, Vital Spark members can support Citizens Advice Bureaux in the following areas:

Trustee board development – helping board members define and develop the right skills to run a business
Facilitation of trustee board strategy days – helping board members find creative ways to strengthen capacity and meet the needs of stakeholders
Coaching and mentoring of senior bureaux staff
Organisational structure and change management
Marketing and PR – presenting Citizens Advice Bureaux in new and different ways and selling their ‘products’ and ‘services’
Business planning – in particular, defining business objectives and priorities
Developing fundraising strategies and capability – accessing and influencing funders
HR support – not something bureaux can always afford to pay for and an area where it is all too easy to get things wrong.

Apply now!
	If you are interested in working with a Citizens Advice Bureau in London, for an informal discussion, please contact Grace Lin, VSF's Liaison Officer for CAB, at vsf_members@yahoo.com.