Sleaford Town Awards - Charity of the Year nominee Citizen's Advice Mid Lincs

Relying totally on donations and grants, the team at the Sleaford office have been delivering advice, advocacy and support for the most vulnerable members of our community for over 20 years.

In 2016 this meant the team helped 7,184 local people with over 16,000 various life problems, from unfair decisions about benefits and tax credits and problems with debt, to employment and housing poor practice which can lead to relationship pressures, family breakdown and homelessness. Sometimes the team is referred to as the ‘4th emergency service’.

The nomination says team members at Sleaford (predominantly volunteers, some serving for over 15 years) are motivated by a desire to help people in their moment of need, empowering them to become more confident in dealing with future issues.

The information gained allows the Sleaford team to inform national Citizens Advice about national policy and practice concerns as well as at a more local level to ensure that the same mistakes are not made twice and that unjust policies and practices are amended.

It is said their crowning achievement is helping local people to improve their feeling of health and well being by dealing with the architects of stress, anxiety and worry, their everyday life problems.