Bridport and District Citizens Advice is an independent charity. We have our own Trustees and management team. We are fully independent, self-governing, and self-funding. However, we are also part of the Citizens Advice national network. We provide confidential, impartial, and independent advice to anyone living in the Bridport and District area.
We provide free, confidential, independent advice on a wide range of topics including Benefits, debt, housing, employment, relationship breakdown and family issues, consumer immigration, health, and court issues.
Our work meets the Advice Quality Standard for General Help and Welfare Benefits casework. The Advice Quality Standard is the quality mark for organisations that provide advice to the public on social welfare issues.
Our Team
Chief Officer: Rovarn Wickremasinghe; Advice Services Manager: Martin Wood
We also employ an administrator, a specialist benefits adviser and various project workers
Our Trustees
David Gibson (Chair), Colin McReavie (Treasurer), Jacqui Bishop, Geoff Jones, Sue Pemberton, Jamie Scott, Graham Smith, Lavinia Sonnenberg
Click here for our Trustee board members brief biographies.
Our volunteers
Most of our advice services are delivered by our team of 70 hardworking and dedicated volunteers. Our volunteer advisers are trained to the highest standard and they all receive ongoing learning and support to ensure their knowledge remains up to date. They are impartial, and non-judgemental in their approach and can advise on a wide range of topics and you can rely on them keeping your problem completely confidential within our service.
We are always grateful to our volunteers but when lockdown restrictions were introduced in March 2020 because of Covid-19, almost everyone adjusted their way of working and took on new challenges by delivering the service remotely by telephone, email and webchat. Our service was only out of action for a short time while we organised our remote working systems. This means that although the office door is closed for the time being, the access to expert advice remains fully open.
Our Finances
We are an independent charity dependent on grants and donations received from several sources.
We are pleased to receive financial support from various sources including Dorset Council and our local Town and Parish councils. We are grateful for donations from businesses and charitable trusts which help us continue our work. The donations we receive from members of the public also help us and we thank all those who are able support us in whatever way.
We are grateful to everyone who supports us financially. If you would like to make a secure donation to help our work, click the Donate button on our home page.
You can read more about our finances in our Annual Accounts. Click here to download the accounts to 31st March 2023.
