Citizens Advice Westminster’s Licensing Advice Project recently worked with residents of Soho to defeat an application to turn a retail shop into a licensed premises with very late evening hours. Residents were understandably worried about the impact such a change would have on their quality of life in a neighbourhood of which they had long […]
A client with several physical health disabilities impacting his mobility needed to apply for a Westminster Council blue and white badge permit. This permit would greatly increase the quality of his life and help him gain more independence. The only way to apply for the badge is via an online form. The client, a man […]
Citizens Advice Westminster was commissioned by the City of Westminster Council to deliver the Westminster Local Hardship Fund.
Together with the Local Authority’s Local Support Payment team, we worked with 76 voluntary and statutory agencies across the borough to ensure that 1,598 households received Sainsbury’s food vouchers totalling £425,290.
Citizens Advice Westminster (CAW) distributed £284,000 of food vouchers to citizens suffering financial hardship between November 2020 and February 2021, at the height of the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable people and families. Last November, CAW was commissioned by Westminster City Council to distribute its hardship fund by issuing food vouchers to […]
When single parent and NHS key worker Anna (not real name) was issued with an eviction notice from her landlord she only had four weeks to find a new home for herself and her autistic daughter. She applied to Westminster Council’s homelessness service and in desperation also emailed a number of relevant agencies and local […]
#PuttingItRight Citizens Advice Westminster’s Putting it Right campaign has achieved significant success for three clients since the start of the year. The campaign takes on individual cases where someone has suffered from very poor and shoddy treatment by a public or statutory body and seeks compensation, an apology and, where appropriate, calls for change in […]
Citizens Advice Westminster’s unique Licensing Advice Project, funded by Westminster City Council since 2005, dealt with 163 new enquiries during its reporting year ended 31 March, compared with 138 the year before. The project’s solicitor Richard Brown represented residents at 47 hearings and made written submissions for 9 hearings. He also advised on 17 cases […]
The knowledge and skills of Citizens Advice Westminster’s money adviser at the North Paddington Foodbank was fully tested when a chance conversation discovered that a recently bereaved client and his two small children were in the middle of a traumatic and tragic family crisis. Her prompt intervention and persistence meant that she was able to put it right […]
Citizens Advice Westminster’s Putting it Right campaign continues to deliver results for its clients. We have successfully supported seven clients since we began this initiative in August 2016 and it is now a key element of our campaign team’s work. When we identify that a client’s issue may well be one that others are struggling […]
Sometimes it is difficult to see the impact that we have on our clients lives beyond getting them out of their immediate crisis situation. This year alone we helped over 12,500 people on a range of issues from debt, housing, benefits and many more. One of these clients was a man named Michael Bishop. He came […]
