Brief overview of Riverside Advice Riverside Advice’s main aim is alleviation of poverty, deprivation and social exclusion to improve well-being and quality of life. Riverside Advice is an independent advice organisation in Cardiff and a member of Advice UK and has delivered advice since 1975. It is the largest Welfare Rights organisation in Cardiff and had the largest Legal Aid Legal Service Commission Contract for Social Welfare Law in Wales until 2013. Our services are targeted at the most vulnerable and aim to provide holistic advice services from basic information and form filling to Specialist casework and representation at Tribunal and Court. Most of our advice work is “legal advice” and involves often-complex points of law as to eligibility for welfare benefits, debt and housing matters. Riverside Advice delivers Welfare Rights services targeting areas of geographical deprivation in Cardiff and beyond, also in partnership with non-advice organisations it targets vulnerable clients groups to reduce ‘barriers’ and enhancing ‘access’ to Welfare Rights services. We aim; through referrals from support organisations in all Sectors to target services to the most vulnerable. This is reflected in our Client Profile;- 60% Mental Health; 50% Physical Disability 40% BME; 25% Carers; 34% Language/Literacy Riverside Advice achieves this profile by working in partnership with support organisations who identify those in need and refer straight into our Specialist Advisor appointments. 80% of our casework appointments come through referrals. Appointments are often attended by support workers and this process ensures there are no barriers to advice for those who need it the most. Riverside Advice currently has 2 specialist Debt caseworkers who are also ‘Intermediaries’ , a qualification required to administer a Debt Relief Order a method of insolvency enabling people to write off their debt. Our outcomes for vulnerable clients are excellent, eg last year raising nearly £3,000,000 from our Legal casework Welfare Benefit services for clients. Many millions were totally written-off or re-negotiated for the most vulnerable people. Current Priority Riverside Advice’s main priority is to ‘Keep our Doors Open’ for specialist Legal Advice for the vulnerable people we deliver our services to. To retain services and our staff with expertise to deliver them; such as we are the only organisation in Cardiff with qualified and registered IMA Debt Intermediaries. This challenge is set against the funding crisis in the Advice Sector initiated by the end of Social Welfare Legal Aid in March 2013. Riverside Advice had the largest Social Welfare Contract in Wales, with 1500 cases in Welfare Benefits and Debt up to March 2013. In addition to this substantial loss other grants / funding streams have or will be finishing. Council grants including Specialist bespoke home visiting Welfare Benefits service to Carers and our open–door drop-in service, provided by an Asian Language Advice worker are ending due to Council cuts on 30th September 2014.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 14:53:15 +0000