Total raised £1,310

 
Gift Aid
+ est. £65.00
£10,000 target 31 days left
13% 16 supporters
Support
Flexible funding – this project will receive all pledges made by 10th December 2024 at 2:22pm

We are a local charity providing free, impartial, independent, high quality, confidential advice to those that need it most.

by Laura at Dacorum Citizens Advice in Hemel Hempstead, England, United Kingdom

 donated match funding
Aviva Community Fund is providing live match funding

1729004611_85th_birthday_-_main_image.jpgCitizens Advice has been the people’s champion since we were established in 1939. This year we are ‘celebrating’ our 85th anniversary but sadly the need is more critical than ever; the cost of living crisis is hitting us from all sides -  we are receiving increasing numbers of clients seeking help and finding it challenging to raise the funds needed to meet the demands of our work.

Our mission is simple yet powerful: to provide free, impartial independent high quality confidential advice which empowers people and is accessible to all across Dacorum. 

Our vision is for a community where people have access to the advice they need in order to find their way forward and the confidence to act upon it; whoever they are and whatever their problem. 

We provide qualified advice on subjects ranging from benefits, debt, housing and homelessness, energy, consumer, immigration, work, relationship and family.

Clients are coming to us with ever more complex issues that are taking longer to resolve, stretching our capacity even further. They may initially want help on housing matters but the total extent of their problem may include their approach to financial management and it will more than likely be having an impact on their health and wellbeing and that of their family. 

Helping to prevent homelessness

The most pressing need across Dacorum and one that's increasing year on year is to be able to support housing needs and prevent homelessness and debt management.  

We now have a situation where we’re seeing significant increases in clients seeking support regarding housing issues - primarily due to the Cost of Living Crisis, mortgage rate increases, increase in rental costs, plummeting rates of new social housing and frozen local housing allowance.  The strain on local housing resources is evident: clients fleeing domestic abuse have been (illegally) “encouraged” to return to their abusive situation; and unsuitable temporary accommodation has been allocated to families.   

With your donation it will help us to provide a dedicated Housing Specialist to address the growing number of people contacting us with housing difficulties.

Help us to help others

  • Last year we helped over 7,000 people with over 18,000 issues. 
  • For every £1 spent on the Citizens Advice service we benefited our clients by almost £18. 
  • Solving problems improves lives, and this means better wellbeing, participation and productivity for the people we help. 
  • We are a small local charity.
  • We couldn’t achieve all that we do without our team of dedicated volunteers. 
  • Within the Dacorum Citizens Advice office we are proud to have a dedicated team of around 50 volunteers and by applying the National Citizens Advice financial modelling tool, the public value of our volunteering impact is calculated to be over £12 million. 
  • Even though we have this tremendous resource with our volunteers giving their time for free, it still costs us around £365,000 to run the service as it is now. 

The number of people seeking help increases month on month

  • Your gift will help us support people experiencing hardship - debt, homelessness, poverty and unemployment and to increase our capacity to train volunteers.
  • If you’d like to help us keep our services free and accessible for the Dacorum community, you can support us as shown below.

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Rewards

This project offers rewards in return for your donation.

£75 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Cheltenham Festival Club Enclosure 2 Tix (16/11)

Two tickets for the Club Enclosure for Saturday 16th November for the Cheltenham Festival. https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham/events-tickets/the-november-meeting/saturday/

£25 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Voucher for Opus Restaurant

Voucher for £10 to spend at Opuz Kitchen and Bar in Hemel Hempstead- a much loved family run modern Turkish restaurant and bar offering relaxed, sophisticated all-day dining https://hemel.opuzkitchenandbar.com/

£25 or more

0 of 3 claimed

2025 Nature Calendars handpainted by local artist

Stunning watercolour art calendar for 2025 by local artist (Sandra Lynn)

£30 or more

2 of 3 claimed

Theatre Ticket Vouchers (£20)

£20 Theatre Voucher which can be used at theatres nationwide and with no expiry date

£30 or more

0 of 5 claimed

£20 Papa Johns Gift Vouchers

we have x5 £20 Papa John Gift vouchers available to purchase. To be claimed online only expires 31/12/25

£40 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Voucher for Karate Training (Child/Teen) (1 month)

1 month karate training for child / teen with https://www.ashridgekarate.co.uk/

£45 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Voucher for Adult Karate Training (for 1 month)

1 month's karate training for adult with https://www.ashridgekarate.co.uk/

£50 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Informal coaching session with Marketing Expert

An hour's expert coaching session with ADF Consultancy (specialists in working with local charities and community groups) - to chat about anything local or community, how you can get involved, get some advice on marketing your small business / charity / group.

£50 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Informal coaching session with Accountancy Expert

One hour session with Banking and Finance Expert to offer informal advice on financial assistance or accounting.

£60 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Bottle of Vintage Red Wine

Annonce, Belair-Monange- St Emilion Grand Cru (2018)

£70 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Reiki Healing Session

Voucher for a Qualified Reiki Healer (Qualified from Science Academy London (Levels 1 & 2)). Location to be agreed between healer and client.

£85 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Northchurch Social Centre Hire Voucher

Voucher of £75 to hire prime location of Northchurch Social Centre - used for parties, plays, community groups https://www.northchurch-social-centre.co.uk

£100 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Theatre Vouchers (£60)

First donation of £100 will unlock a reward of £60 in Theatre Vouchers which can be used at theatres nationwide and with no expiry date.

£130 or more

0 of 1 claimed

Magnum of Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal 2003 (150cl)

Magnum of Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal 2003 (150cl), Paulliac (Cabernet Sauvignon blend) Grand Cru Classe.

£200 or more

0 of 2 claimed

x2 tix to Mrs Doubtfire Shaftsbury Theatre

any off-peak Mon/Tues to Fri perf until end of March.

£200 or more

x2 Tix to Back to the Future

off peak Monday to Thursday performance. Jan/Feb

£300 or more

0 of 1 claimed

2 tix Mama Mia The West End Show

2 band A tickets to Mama Mia The West End Show Tickets are for Monday – Thursday performances, always subject to availability and must be booked and redeemed by 25th APRIL 2025.

£65 or more

1 of 1 claimed

Bottle of Vintage White Wine

White- Vieux Telegraphe from Chateauneuf du Pape (2019)


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