40 years of providing advice
I’ve been involved in providing advice for 40 years (yes, I’m getting on a bit) and I thought I would tell the story of how I came to be here.
I stopped working as a Credit Controller when I was eight months pregnant with my first child in July 1984, with no intention of returning to work until they were at least in pre-school. Having given birth in late August of the same year, I relished in the joys (and tribulations) of motherhood, but as much as I loved being a mum, I found myself climbing the walls after about six months and knew I needed something to keep the grey cells ticking over.
During this period my church (100 yards away) had just opened a community advice centre. My vicar, knowing my background, asked if I wouldn’t mind giving them a hand in setting up some systems and processes (still using typewriters) and I agreed to two mornings, two days a week for a couple of months. We had a creche (one of the older ladies from the church looked after the children in the same building within earshot) so I agreed.
My role was to set up systems and nothing more, but what I witnessed was how the team were able to turn people’s lives around. Families and individuals seeking help and advice in absolute crisis, no money, about to lose their homes, bailiffs at the door, domestic violence, you name it they dealt with it. I saw the difference they were making to people’s lives, broken people, broken families, many were often considered by the powers that be that they were ‘problem families’ when in fact they were ‘families with problems’. Families who with a little support, a little expert help and advice, realised there were people who would help where they could and more importantly listen without judging and help them turn their lives/situations turned around. OK, so there wasn’t a magic wand but for many, just knowing someone cared enough to try and help them was enough to bring them through.
I wanted some of that, I wanted to make that difference, so I trained and became a volunteer adviser. Once trained I became a paid advisor and after a few years the Manager of the centre. And here is where I stayed for 20 plus years, chief cook and bottle washer as the saying goes. As well as a senior advisor, I was HR, Fundraiser, and at times, Cleaner and even a Bouncer on the odd occasion. I eventually moved on to become a Senior Advisor with Citizens Advice (CAB) specialising in debt (having been a Credit Controller I really was a game keeper become poacher) and welfare rights. With the demise of Legal Aid (devastated CABs up and down the country) I was made redundant and went to Age UK amongst others, until I joined what was then Network Homes and now SNG nine years ago.
I’ve no idea how many people I have interacted with me as an advisor any more than I know how much I’ve managed to obtain for people during my 40 years. If you told me a 100,000 or a couple of million respectively I would not be in the least bit surprised. Many of you have heard me say how much I love working with people. And people which I think are no less broken now than they were 40 years ago. Yes the benefits may have different names (it was Supplementary Benefit and Family Income Supplement when I started) and are by and large much more complex. But people are people and all deserve to be listened to, all deserve to be given informed information, all deserve to feel secure in the knowledge they can put food on the table and have a roof over their heads.
We had a sign in the advice centre where I started, it said :
The impossible we can do, miracles take a little longer
Yes, after 40 years, I will find a way around the impossible and keep fighting for that miracle.