2023 Free

Citizens Advice Bristol Impact Report 2023/24

Citizens Advice Bristol is an independent charity providing free, confidential advice to Bristol residents across debt, benefits, housing, employment and immigration. In 2023/24 the charity supported 3,963 people and families across 25,158 issues, helping 90% find a positive way forward. For every £1 invested, local public services save £2.05 and the wider economy benefits by £14.69. Total expenditure was £825,962. The charity works with 59 volunteers and delivers specialist projects with Macmillan Cancer Support, MS Society and Bristol City Council.

Report snapshot
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About

Advice impact: 3,963 people supported across 25,158 issues; 90% helped to find a positive way forward; 89% reported better physical health; 70% felt less anxious or depressed; 9 in 10 said they could not have sorted the problem without support Custom geography from upload: Bristol

Key Metrics

Key Metric 1 3,963 people and families supported; 25,158 issues addressed; 1,234 people helped with debt; 3,638 people helped with benefits; 792 individuals and families at risk of homelessness supported; 307 people given immigration advice
Key Metric 2 59 volunteers, each committing at least half a day per week; advice delivered by trained and qualified advisers including volunteers
Key Metric 3 Total expenditure: £825,962 (9% higher than prior year); for every £1 invested: public services save £2.05, wider economy benefits by £14.69, service users are on average £11.63 better off; projected shortfall of over £75,000 in current year

Key Outcomes

  • Debt and benefits: 1,234 people in debt had finances stabilised; 3,638 people in financial need identified and claimed entitled benefits; debts written off, reduced or rescheduled; PIP appeals won; Universal Credit applications supported
  • Housing and specialist projects: 792 individuals and families at risk of homelessness supported; 307 immigration advice cases; specialist services for cancer patients (Macmillan), MS sufferers, and Council benefit recipients funded by Bristol City Council Household Support Fund

Geography

Other

Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
438,000 pets treated across 49 Pet Hospitals, equivalent to 4,700 pets every working day
Key Metric 2
Over 2 million treatments provided; veterinary services cost over £85 million, funded entirely by donations
Key Metric 3
327,000 children reached with pet education messages; Pet Health Hub received over 4 million online visitors
Veterinary care provided to the pets of over 360,000 people in financial hardship across the UK, with 46% of clients disabled or living with a serious health condition
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
2.4 million benefits calculations completed via free Benefits Calculator
Key Metric 2
1.5 million people identified new benefits worth an average of £5,396 each (£12.9bn total)
Key Metric 3
£3 million in grants awarded, supporting 2,164 people across the UK
4.8 million people accessed the Turn2us website for information on claiming support they are entitled to
Impact Snapshot
Key Metric 1
7,325 individual children supported; 9,269 instances of support across the year; 6,660 referrals fulfilled; 485 emergency newborn hospital packs delivered to 23 London hospitals...
Key Metric 2
734 regular volunteers; 31,348 volunteer hours; 146 one-off volunteers (700+ hours); 99 corporate volunteer groups (3,900 hours)
Key Metric 3
Items gifted worth over £3 million (if new); 128 tonnes of goods redistributed; £22,714 in financial support secured or saved for families via signposting;...
Connections and signposting: Family Connections team spoke to 2,764 families; signposting support provided 1,037 times; 77% of signposting recipients had never accessed similar help before; £22,714 in financial support secured or saved