Enfield Citizens Advice Bureau
Annual Report 2011/2012
This issue
Message from Chair P.2
Message from CEO P.4
Message from Managers P.5
A week in the Bureau P.6—9
Providing accessible, quality advice for
Social Policy P.10
Volunteer Development P.11
the diverse communities in Enfield
ICT Report P.12
Staff List P.14-15
Our Supporters P.16
Message From the Chair
Jeff Rodin
Chair of Trustees
Last year, in my message as Chair, I made the
comment that the Bureau operates in an challengng and difficult environment. That has been
increasingly the case in 2011/12 and as I look at
what is now being implemented by the Government in reducing the support given by the public
purse to the most disadvantaged people in our
community, I envisage that we will get to a position in which the resources available to
Enfield
Citizens Advice Bureau (ECAB) will not be enough
to enable it to deal with the legitimate demands
being made on it by its clients. The coming changes include the introduction of Universal Credit,
reductions in Housing Benefit and Council Tax
Benefit, plus other reductions being implemented
which will lead to our potential client group having
even more financial difficulties and therefore even
more need for the advice and assistance that it is
our core mission to provide.
I have always thought of food aid as one of the
ways by which the wealthier countries in the world have given assistance to poorer countries. Britain
remains one of the wealthiest countries in the world and Enfield is situated in the wealthiest region of
Britain. Yet, despite this background of wealth and plenty, there are now two food banks operating in
the Borough and in the past 12 months they have helped more than 1,500 clients. There have been
therefore at least 1,500 families in the Borough who at some time in the past year have not had
enough money to be able to feed themselves. To me this in itself is clear evidence that our country is
becoming increasingly unequal and action needs to be urgently taken to reverse this trend.
The trend towards more inequality will not be reversed by an ever tighter squeeze on the living
standards of those at the bottom of the income scale, which is happening as the result of the changes to Social Security being implemented by the Government, or loose talk by politicians and the media about “benefit scroungers”, intended to demonise those who are reliant on Social Security payments. What I believe is needed is raising more revenue from those best able to pay through taxation, rather than cutting public expenditure on support to the most disadvantaged.
I am very proud to be Chair of ECAB. A huge amount has been achieved by the paid staff and volunteers, and the achievements of the Bureau, which are reflected in this report, are due to their
hard work and dedication. The Borough hugely benefits from having such a talented team working
for ECAB.
Over the period of this report and subsequently we have continued to expand and improve the services that we are able to offer the Borough’s residents. We now offer drop-in advice at a number
of locations across the Borough as well as from our main base in Ponders End, and it is our aim for
the future to continue to improve our accessibility both in terms of time and location, subject to
funding being available. In addition to our core service we have continued to also operate a
number of projects that are discussed elsewhere in this report.
The majority of our funding has continued to come from the Local Authority, the London Borough
of Enfield. It has continued to maintain the level of financial support it has given to ECAB, despite
the financial difficulties it has in maintaining its budgets due to cuts in its funding from Central
Government. We are grateful to the members and officers of the
Local Authority for their continued support and in fact recently we
have also been the recipients of other Local Authority funding
Flagship HIV drug project through the Residents Priority Fund and the Capacity Building
Fund. We continue to have an excellent relationship with both
success continues
Council Members and Council Officers, and we look forward to
Major drive to increase adviscontinuing with what is undoubtedly a very valuable partnership
er numbers as demand rises
for both sides.
At the time of writing we are waiting the outcome of our bid to the
Council for a three year core funding agreement covering the
period from 2013/14 – 2015/16.
In conclusion I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my
fellow Trustees for their invaluable work and help to me
personally as well as the confidence they have shown in me continuing as Chair. I would also like to pay my personal tribute to
the Chief Executive, Sonia Kotecha and the management team
of ECAB as well as all the other paid staff and volunteers who
have all been very helpful to me personally and who have
embraced appropriate changes in working practices, enabling the
organisation to achieve ever more.
4,500
“helpline” telephone
calls
Five-year

“action plan”
Shortlisted for National
“community Owl project” award
Annual
8,000
visitors approximately
Message From the CEO
As the financial downturn continues, it’s been another
challenging year for the voluntary sector. Funding is
becoming tighter and we are all looking at ways in
which we can continue serving our clients under the
current circumstances. I have been working closely with
the Board and senior managers on how we can
continue to deliver an excellent, efficient and valued
service to the residents of Enfield. The Bureau has had
to become more resilient and responsive to the needs
of our clients, funders and partners. Despite the
uncertainties for the sector, demand for advice is
increasing. We all appreciate that the London Borough
of Enfield, as our main funder, recognises this in its
continued support to the Bureau. I am also grateful to
the rest of our funders who appreciate the value that
their projects bring to the community. We hope to
continue working with you all in the future.
Sonia Kotecha
Chief Executive Officer
We have, as a team, had to adapt to a changing
environment. In order to meet the increase in demand,
we have increased our outreach work significantly. This
is something that both the Council and our clients wanted. We have introduced an evening advice session to
enable accessibility for those who are in full-time employment. We are also providing a service at the
Dugdale Centre at the request of the Over 50s forum.
In March 2012 we commissioned Middlesex University to carry out a comprehensive needs analysis to enable us to identify groups and areas of advice that we need to consider. Plans for the future
include reaching out to some of these groups, making better use of our premises, diversification of
funding and identifying suitable partners for joint working. Our business plan for 2012-15 highlights
some of the areas upon which we intend to focus in the next few years.
We have created a social policy team, which is working with the Local Authority and local MPs in
identifying issues, campaigning and effecting change. With changes in the welfare benefits system,
we are ensuring that we have the right resources, skills and expertise to cope with the additional
demand.
I am delighted that we passed our audit in both the quality of our advice and our organisational
practice and policies. I must attribute this to the hard work, dedication and commitment of all the
staff and volunteers at Enfield CAB. I am also grateful for the continuing support of my Chair and
Board of Trustees, who provide their knowledge, skills and expertise on a regular basis, and the
senior management team, which is helping the bureau to go from strength to strength in these
challenging times.
What Bureau managers have to say
Denyse Nott
Services Manager
Enfield CAB offers
both
a
core
service
and
outreach projects.
The core service
is managed, in
Bureau,
by
Denyse Nott ,who
has many years
experience
with
the CAB nationally
and has been at
Enfield CAB for 19
years.
The first point of access for all clients, except
for emails, is our telephone or face-to-face
Gateway [Triage] system where we make an
assessment of the needs of the client. We may
provide information, signpost or refer to another organisation, make generalist or specialist
appointment within the Bureau or provide telephone advice appointments.
We have a number of solicitors who visit the
Bureau to give advice on immigration,
employment, welfare benefits, housing and
family issues. We also provide specialist money advice.
Enfield
CAB
is
continuing its efforts
to
develop
the
service through the
expansion
of
projects. Our latest
target is to develop
services in libraries in
Enfield to improve
access around the
borough. We have
Mary Monaghan
been successful in
Project Manager
securing funding from
the Residents Priority
Fund in Enfield Highway Ward, and now run
advice sessions on Mondays targeting local
residents. In line with our plan, a further three
libraries have been identified.
In addition to the advice and information
services, we are developing Financial
Capability training courses. This has been
possible with the help of the Capacity Building
Fund from Enfield Council. The courses assist
local residents with budgeting, managing their
debts, exploring cheaper sources of credit and
finding cheaper utilities suppliers.
This funding has come at a very important time
when local residents who are in receipt of benefits will require more support as the benefit
changes are implemented; many clients will be
affected by Housing Benefit restrictions,
contributions to Council Tax, and benefit for
many will be reduced following the introduction
of the Universal Credit. This will be introduced
as a pilot in Enfield from April 2013.
Monday
70%
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
60%
50%
Age 10/11 Female
40%
Gender Count
30%
Male 3,167
Age 11/12 Female
0 – 16
17 – 24
25 – 34
35 – 49
50 – 64
65 – 74
75 – 84
85 +
Not recorded
Total
Age 10/11 Male
Age 11/12 Male
Female 4,542
20%
10%
0%
2010-11
2011-12
Although client numbers have increased, the gender differentials for
each year remain similar.
Although Monday is the only day when our drop-in service is closed, we are still extremely busy.
Our telephone gateway service runs from 10am to 4pm with 3 or 4 assessors undertaking initial
assessments of advice needs.
We hold the first of our two weekly specialist debt advice sessions (delivered for our clients by
the Mary Ward Legal Centre) and provide advice by pre-booked appointments. There are also no
fewer than five outreach sessions at a variety of locations: Children’s Centres, Libraries and the
Dugdale Centre.
Recruitment of volunteers is essential to the continuity of our service and we also devote this
time to training. We undertake group training sessions for the latest intake of trainees who will
become assessors and advisers.
Equalities breakdown
of clients
Tuesday
Tuesday is usually our busiest day in the waiting
room. The drop-in session opens from 10am to 1pm
and an average of 40 clients will be seen.
Assessments are undertaken and we will provide
information, schedule appointments or make referrals.
Advisers will
be taking appointments, providing
telephone advice and dealing with email advice requests submitted through our website. The Eastern
European Advice Project sees their clients at the
Bureau on a Tuesday, while the
Children’s Centre
outreach advisers have this as their “catch-up” day
when they carry out case work on
behalf of their
many clients. In the evening we provide appointments
for people who are unable to attend during normal
working hours .
Facts






2009—ECAB relocated to Vincent
House
26,745—average hits on the Enfield
CAB website per month
31,156 requests handled by our
website this year (by 28th January
2013).
108—Total number of volunteers
recruited in 2011/2012
1,402—clients’ debt issues we looked
at 2011/2012
7200—new clients seen
Wednesday
Wednesday sees another busy
drop-in session and appointments,
with our in-house debt specialists
seeing their first clients of the week.
The Eastern European Advice Project
has their outreach session today.
There are also advisers working in
Children’s Centres, a Housing
Association, the HIV ward at North
Middlesex Hospital and Enfield Town
Library. Enfield CAB’s Social Policy
team meets in the afternoon to
analyse information gathered from
clients and to work on local and
national campaigns.
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
2010-11
4000
2011-12
2000
Total Clients
Winchmore Hill
Upper Edmonton
Turkey Street
Town
Southgate Green
Southgate
Southbury
Ponders End
Palmers Green
Not Recorded
Lower Edmonton
Jubilee
Highlands
Haselbury
Grange
Enfield Lock
Enfield Highway
Edmonton Green
Cockfosters
Chase
Bush Hill Park
Bowes
LA Ward
0
We identified the need for further outreach and submitted bids to the Residents Priority Fund for the
following Wards:
Enfield Highway, Lower Edmonton, Edmonton Green and Grange
Thursday
Thursday starts with another
drop-in session plus advice
appointments, and we also
have two volunteers who
specialise in helping clients to
complete applications for
disability benefits. The Mary
Ward advisers hold their
second debt session of the
week, as does Enfield CAB’s
debt team. Our administration
volunteers will be particularly
busy today as they prepare
clients’ cases for the solicitors
who will be hosting our legal
rotas tomorrow.
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
2010/11
3,000
2011/12
2,000
1,000
0
New Clients
Existing Clients
Total
Existing client numbers have increased. This represents the
additional support needs of a small number of our clients.
Friday
Friday has a variety of specialist legal appointments
throughout
the
day,
covering
employment, housing, immigration and welfare
rights as well as general legal enquiries. The
week’s last drop-in session is held, and the
Gateway telephone lines are still busy. As
there are fewer volunteer advisers in Bureau
on a
Friday, the HIV Project worker often
takes
advantage of a free interview room to
see his clients at appointment. Finally, the supervisors ensure that all of the week’s tasks
have been completed, and that everything is
ready for the week ahead. Our Quality Standards are
monitored continually and supervisors will
review cases and identify and
schedule training courses accordingly.
Social Policy
In conjunction with Citizens Advice and the
London Borough of Enfield the Bureau took part
in two major Autumn campaigns.
On October 22nd the Mayor of Enfield, Kate
Anolue, launched the Bureau’s Enfield Big
Energy Saving Week. ECAB had a stall at the
Tesco store in High Street, Ponders End, on
October 22nd and 23rd, with specially trained
volunteers providing useful help to shoppers on
how to reduce their home energy bills.
They were also promoting the Bureau’s Energy
Best Deal information sessions, and its Financial
Capability courses.
November saw ECAB in partnership with Enfield
Trading Standards to mark National Consumer
Week, with stalls at various locations in the
Borough.
These complimented the OFT’s Doorstep Selling
Campaign which was launched in July last year,
offering people guidance on how they can
protect themselves from inappropriate sales
tactics, pressure selling, cold callers and rogue
traders.
Volunteer Development
In 2011/12 we held several
recruitment
events
which
attracted many volunteers
from a diverse range of
backgrounds. We recruited
volunteers for a variety of roles
including advisers, assessors,
admin,
social
policy,
fundraising,
trustees
and
financial capability.


KEY FACTS ON VOLUNTEER
ROLES
20% increase for 2013
Gateway assessors and
advisors are priority areas

Only dedicated volunteers
recruited

Diverse profile - we are
really proud of our diverse
Volunteers provide the core of
volunteer base
the Bureau’s General Advice
process and every year the Bureau seeks to recruit additional
volunteers to train as advisers and in many other supporting roles. Thanks to all of our volunteers
for generously giving up their time, and for their dedication, enthusiasm and commitment to the
Bureau. The Bureau is indebted to our volunteers who contribute over 12,852 working hours equivalent to more than £154,224 of paid staff time.
If you would like to know more about volunteering at Enfield CAB please contact Marcia Cabey,
Volunteer Development Manager, on 020 8375 4178. You might also like to look at our volunteering
roles on www.enfieldcab.org.uk and complete and return an expression of interest form, or contact
us by email at [email protected]
ICT Report
ICT plays a fundamental role
in ensuring the smooth
running of our service
delivery. We are pleased to
report that, despite some
difficulties and challenges, we
had significant successes in
ICT and most of our
objectives have been completed and the rest are on the way
to completion.


The rollout of laptops, PC’s and software based on Office 2007/10 is proceeding and is now
close to completion. We were faced with significant challenges in meeting the problems posed
by legacy software and systems, but through a process of audit and testing a standard build
has been established and the rollout is progressing on schedule. In addition to its many
operational benefits, the rollout is also providing strong support for the strategic aim of
developing remote working and staff mobility.
Following the expansion to new outreach centres within the last year, all locations have stable
and secure internet connection with remote assistance. The outreach workers have been
issued with security tokens to securely connect to our network.
Other ICT achievements we registered in the financial year 2011/12 include;

Setting out our road map for 2012/14 which is monitored and reviewed periodically

Recruitment of an IT volunteer

Redesigning our Enfield CAB website
It is vital that we build on the solid progress made so far and continue to deliver on our ICT
commitments.
Client contact
The increase in "other work on behalf of clients" illustrates the extra support given on an on-going basis.
We suspect that the slight differences demonstrate the emerging trend from home ownership to rented
accommodation.
Staff List
FIRST NAME
SURNAME
ROLE
Sonia
Lesley
Roby
Mary
Denyse
Angela
Marcia
Alan
Roulla
Lia
Alun
Joanne
Lorraine
Anna
Siobhan
Dora
Izabella
Ewelina
Inye
Jah
Hakeem
Janet
Sue
Sue
Muriel
Kotecha
Clarke
Dogwoh
Monaghan
Nott
Greaves
Cabey
Sladen
Nahlis
Fletcher
Jones
Brooks
Eisen
Zaremba
Vegh
Heather
Sowe
Peietruszkiewicz
Alabraba
Ebrima
Mubiru
Gardner
Muller
Hendricks
Benjamin
Chief Executive Officer
Senior Administrator/Book Keeper
Accountant
Project Manager
Services Manager
Bureau Supervisor
Volunteer Development Manager
Bureau Supervisor/SP Coordinator
Training Supervisor
VDM Admin Support
HIV/AIDS Adviser/Bureau Supervisor
Debt Specialist
Generalist Adviser
Children's Centre Outreach Adviser
Children's Centre Outreach Adviser
Information Officer/Generalist Adviser
EEMAP Adviser
Advice Support CC/EEMAP Vol Support
Telephone Gateway Assessor/Adviser
Welfare Benefit & Debt caseworker
IT Support Officer
Bureau Administrator
Email Adviser
Email Adviser
Volunteer Form Filler
Derek
Gillian
Sue
Malik
Robin
John
Linda
Patricia
Loraine
Hilary
Bernadine
Nigel
Joanne
Youna
Sharda
Jyoti
Rebecca
Mashkhura
Li
John
Ngozi
Stacy
Kirby
McNally
Munds
Javed
Smith
Watson
Fail
Bott
Hopwood
Meeks
Anderson
Owen
Alleyne
Kabongo
Andrea
Shah
Davies
Ruziboeva
Chen-Yang
Allcock
Ukah
Obiri
Volunteer Gateway Assessor
Volunteer Generalist Adviser
Volunteer Generalist Adviser
Volunteer Generalist Adviser
Volunteer Generalist Adviser
Volunteer Generalist Adviser
Volunteer Generalist/Email Adviser
Volunteer Generalist Adviser
Volunteer Generalist Adviser
Volunteer Generalist Adviser
Reception/Information Assistant
Volunteer IT Support
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
FIRST NAME
SURNAME
ROLE
Nisa
Soruklu
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Angela
Amal
Volha
Byrne
Sharif
Yermolchyk
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Adviser
Paul
Judith
Linda
Barnett
Kasseh-Kamara
Rhodes
Vol Gateway Assessor/Trainee Adviser
Volunteer Trainee Gateway Assessor
Volunteer Trainee Gateway Assessor
Katherine
Cherelle
Maria Anna
Mark
Latcham
Jones
Michaelides
Bailey
Volunteer Trainee Gateway Assessor
Volunteer Trainee Gateway Assessor
Volunteer Trainee Gateway Assessor
Advice Support
Bernadette
Joanna
Penny
McGowan
Legwand
Stylianou
Advice Support
Advice Support
Advice Support
Tanaka
Christian
Joanna
Mombe
Levy
Ali
Advice Support/Admin
Financial Capability Trainer
Financial Capability Trainer
Elena
Mokshuda
Asha
Androulla
Pellegrini
Ali
Khan
Atherton
Financial Capability Trainer
Financial Capability Admin/Reception
Financial Capability Trainer
Financial Capability Trainer
Akunna
Hamal
Natasha
Osuagwu
Raesi
Fletcher
Social Policy Admin
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Theresa
Sophia
Margaret
Duberry
Ramsay
Hoyne
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Rita
Jen
Clover
Riches
Wallis
Roberts
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Sandra
Michael
Martins
Merrolyn
Louis
Dalton
Ikuerowo
McKenzie
Reception/Volunteer Admin
Volunteer Admin
Volunteer Admin
Volunteer Admin
Susan
Jeff
Jeff
Turck
Rodin
Hopwood
Volunteer Admin
Chair - Trustees
Treasurer - Trustee
Bernice
Yvonne
Fiona
Groom
McMillan
Cruickshank
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Vyomesh
Reza
Megan
Thanki
Choudhury
McNutt
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Laura
Glyn
Robin
Moore
Jones
Charnley
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Our Funders
Talent and skill are vital…...so are the funders
All the talent, experience, knowledge, skill and dedication of our people means little without our “critical
friends”. Without them we could not function. Without them 8,000 Enfield residents every year would
have nowhere to go and no-one to talk to for help.
These companies and organisations provide the finance to run Enfield’s CAB and all at the Bureau
would like to say a big “thank you” for their support.
Our major funder remains the Local Authority, but from the smallest to the largest we would like to express our sincere gratitude for helping us to help those in need in Enfield.
Full accounts can be viewed on the Enfield CAB Website at www.enfieldcab.org.uk