About Citizens Advice Flintshire

Citizens Advice Flintshire (CAF) is a charity that began giving advice to the local community in 1964.  Since then, we have continued to grow and develop a range of advice services to meet the needs of our community.

We know that life is complicated and for some people increasingly so.  Sometimes people in our local community encounter challenges and problems they don’t know how to deal with, and they need help to overcome.  People need different types of support at various times in their life and we believe individuals should be able to get help in the way that works for them and meets their needs.

We are here to help everyone in society that needs us. We help people to resolve their problems by providing advice and information on a wide range of issues including benefits, debt & money, employment, discrimination, family, housing, immigration and health.  We also use evidence of individuals’ problems to campaign for improvements in law and services that affect everyone.

We have three main offices (Mold, Connah’s Quay and Holywell) as well as a number of outreaches across Flintshire.  We also help people to access self-help information and provide advice via telephone, email, WhatsApp and Messenger.

As a charity we are aware that our service would not be possible without the support of our funders, local organisations/businesses and volunteers.  Flintshire County Council continue to provide funding for our core service whilst other funders including the Welsh Government and the National Lottery enable us to provide specialist advice services.

During 2022/23, CAF helped over 9,461 people in Flintshire with over 50,928 problems.

We’re proud of that achievement and know it was only possible because of the huge commitment shown by our staff and volunteers. We realise there is still more we can do for our communities and we have big ambitions to develop our service, both in terms of the scope of our work and the ways in which we deliver advice.

CAF recognises the positive value of diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination.

Our values

  • We’re inventive. We’re not afraid of trying new things and learn by getting things wrong. We question every idea to make it better and we change when things aren’t working.
  • We’re generous. We work together, sharing knowledge and experience to solve problems. We tell it like it is and respect everyone.
  • We’re responsible. We do what we say we’ll do and keep our promises. We remember that we work for a charity and use our resources effectively.

Ethos of the service

Our vision is that Citizens Advice Flintshire, through advice and campaigning, will help to create a fairer Flintshire where people are empowered, treated equally and have their rights respected.

We are committed to providing high quality services to meet the advice needs of as many people as possible, especially those from the most disadvantaged communities, as well as campaigning for changes to laws that will positively affect everyone.

We are a trusted institution that people turn to in times of need and we are committed to making sure that, as a charity, we are the best we can be!

Staff

At present, we have 48 paid staff members and over 40 volunteers.

Management and the day-to-day running of the service is the responsibility of the CEO supported by a management team.  The Trustee Board has overall responsibility for the service as trustees of our charity.

Citizens Advice Membership

All local Citizens Advice services are members of the national Citizens Advice organisation and must meet the strict criteria laid down by Citizens Advice.  The Membership Scheme defines standards of service and management which we must achieve.  These are regularly checked through rigorous audit procedures.

Aims and Principles of the Citizens Advice service

Aims

The Citizens Advice service provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. It values diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination.

The service aims:

  • To provide the advice people need for the problems they face.
  • To improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives.

Principles

The Citizens Advice service is:

  • Independent
  • Impartial
  • Confidential
  • Free

The service provided by Citizens Advice is completely independent. We are therefore able to offer impartial advice to all enquirers and to take up any issue with the appropriate authority on behalf of individuals or groups.

The service provided by Citizens Advice is impartial. It is open to everybody, regardless of ethnic or national origins, colour, gender, HIV status, disability or sexual orientation and social or economic status. Advice and help will be given on any subject without any preconceived attitude on the part of the service.

Citizens Advice offers confidentiality to clients.  Nothing learned by a bureau from enquiries, including the fact of their visit, will be passed on to anyone outside the service without their express permission.

CAF services are provided free to clients at the point of delivery. Each Local Citizens Advice, and Citizens Advice nationally, is responsible for operating within the principles of the service and protecting the Citizens Advice brand. At the same time it is also recognised that we all need room for innovation without deterring people from seeking advice for fear of the cost.

Appropriate action will be taken on behalf of the client regardless of how unpopular or unpalatable it may be with the community.

Political Impartiality: The Citizens Advice service requires that personal views do not impair the objectivity of the advice and assistance given, or restrict its availability or deter sections of the community from making use of the services of the Local Citizens Advice, or deter funding authorities from helping bureaux to achieve their aims.

Campaigns and Research

It is an equal part of the aims of our service “to improve the policies and practices that affect people’s lives”. What this means in practice is that we continually review and update our knowledge of local policies and practices. Through observing the experiences of clients and working closely with colleagues we are able to identify emerging problems. Where we observe that a local issue is causing difficulty we can take steps to help improve those services. We can establish liaison and provide direct feedback on how practices are affecting individuals and communities. We constructively challenge poor practice and in so doing help to improve services in both the public and private sectors.

Analysis of the workload is also vital to the efficient management of the service. It is the duty of the service to comment on policies which adversely affect its clients. Each issue must be handled in a non-party-political manner and requires sensitivity of approach.