1. We’re local and we’re national. We have 6 national offices and offer direct support to people in around 300 independent local Citizens Advice services across England and Wales.

3. We’re here for everyone. Our advice helps people solve problems and our advocacy helps fix problems in society. Whatever the problem, we won’t turn people away.
4. We’re listened to – and we make a difference. Our trusted brand and the quality of our research mean we make a real impact on behalf of the people who rely on us.

Citizens Advice Havering (CAH) was set up in 1939 and has a long and successful history of providing advice to the residents of Havering and campaigning on the issues that affect them.  CAH is amongst the smaller local Citizens Advice (LCAs) in the UK and as such has to work hard to meet demand with limited resources.

CAH’s delivery model is based on phone and email advice.  CAH joined the national phone advice service Adviceline in September 2020.   We are also part of the national Help to Claim service, which is largely delivered by advisers working from home using phone and webchat. 

Citizens Advice Havering is proud to be a member of the Citizens Advice network and shares its vision, aims and values.  

We understand how important our culture is to the way we provide our services and agree with the values articulated by Citizens Advice in Future of Advice.  

We’re inventive. We’re not afraid of trying new things and learn by getting things wrong. We question every idea to make it better and we change when things aren’t working. 

We’re generous. We work together, sharing knowledge and experience to solve problems. We tell it like it is and respect everyone. 

We’re responsible. We do what we say we’ll do and keep our promises. We remember that we work for a charity and use our resources effectively. 

In Havering, we work within these values.  We have also adopted three additional value statements that guide our partnership strategy and business development plan. 

We have also adopted three additional value statements that guide our partnership strategy and business development plan. 

We’re people focused.  We value the dedication, commitment and resources that people hold.  They deserve the best service and support, regardless of who they are.  We do everything to empower and support them so that they develop their full potential – as clients and users of our services, as volunteers and as members of our staff team. 

We’re collaborative.  We know that we cannot achieve our goals on our own.  We work closely with other Citizens Advice in the network and the CAH/CAR partnership stands as an example of our partnership commitment.  We value the role that communities play as advocates for local people.  We support and partner with them so that our advice reaches those that cannot reach out to us directly. 

We’re innovative.  We understand that we cannot stand still and that our service must respond to changing needs and circumstances.  We try out new ways of working locally – and work with our national network to make sure our learning impacts national practice.