Glasgow North West Citizens Advice Service
Charity registered in Scotland SC005641
Maryhill & Possilpark Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is an independent, local charitable organisation which in 2016 celebrates 35 years of excellent service to individuals in need in the Maryhill/Kelvin & Canal Ward communities, some of which are the most deprived in Scotland and Western Europe. We provide free, confidential, impartial and independent advice and information. We ensure that individuals do not suffer through lack of knowledge of their rights and responsibilities, or of the services available to them, or through an inability to express need effectively. Our clients are empowered to influence social policy and services, locally and nationally. In 35 years our work has covered over 500,000 issues, representation of clients at over 2,000 Welfare Rights and Employment Tribunals, and over £20m in client financial gains. Our commitment is to increase access to advice and information to the 38,000 individuals we serve via 1:1 and innovative delivery channels.
- From 3 April 2017 to 30 March 2018
- Award: £8,640 via Call 4
- Data published on 360Giving
- mapcab.org.uk
Project plan
Project description
Making Digital Advice Work will see a Digital Advice & Training Officer focus on empowering local communities to access the digital environment and complete welfare benefits forms, in particular the forthcoming universal credit applications. The project will assist clients of all ages, ethnicities, capabilities and cultures to overcome their fear of completing online benefit forms and to learn for themselves how to best navigate their own digital devices in 1:1 and group sessions, and also to facilitate clients to use the Bureau's training room on a drop-in basis twice-weekly where they will receive support needed in this context. The project will be delivered in the Maryhill & Possilpark areas of north west Glasgow. The new post will be directly accountable to the chief officer.
Project milestones
Phase 1
Establish direct client referrals system to Project's services to Bureau & outreach advice staff, and via community partners, to complete 8 group sessions with 10 specialist 1:1 appointments delivered, and current volunteers stating to engage.
Phase 2
Numbers in group drop-in sessions to increase and see repeat clients using the service over a longer period of time, and our new volunteers entering the adviser training in June to be engaging with the service.
Phase 3
Numbers of clients and volunteers accessing the service still strong, and it is expected that we will be contacting all using the service so far for evaluation forms and the first round of telephone interviews for the final evaluation.
Phase 4
Numbers of clients using the service has reached the initial target of 600 clients over the 12-month funded period, and as the project completes the evaluation materials are already gathered for assessment, with all reports to funder fulfilled.
Evaluation
Updates
Our 'Benefits of Going Digital' outreaches - Lambhill Stables, Wyndford Community Hub, Milton Arc - were continuing to prove successful throughout the Q4 period. Appointments delivered on a 1:1 basis remained at steady levels in Q4 with the majority of service users turning up for appointments. In addition, we saw increased demand from some service users for group sessions so that we can encourage more collaboration, with perhaps one or two of our services users going on to become digital champions for the future - resources in the organisation permitting, of course! All in all, Q4 has been encouraging and the level of support we are receiving from partners hosting our outreach services in the wider communities has been excellent. Service users are reporting back that they have increased confidence and awareness of the importance of attaining and using their new-founded digital skills for a whole host of everyday information, and especially useful for allaying their fears and heightening their preparedness to cope with the fast-increasing mass of the benefits landscape that will undoubtedly impact their lives throughout 2018 and beyond.
The Project has almost ended its final phase, and with that we are trying to prepare for the exit of the Project and preparing service users to a different service and location from 1st April 2018. Our Project Adviser, Megan Duffy, talked publicly about the work at a recent SCVO event to celebrate the progress of digital inclusion more generally and to bring organisations together to share best practice going forward. This was a great opportunity to publicise our work and to know that our Project is a part of a bigger picture of digital inclusion going on across Scotland.
The social media launch of our new pilot Project - The Benefits of Going Digital - was very successful, generating much interest from the general public. Our local community centre partners - Lambhill Stables, Maryhill Hub, and Milton Arc - are fully on board and have helped us achieve the initial marketing of this new pilot to their service users and have established us with the required equipment and space.
Maryhill & Possilpark Citizens Advice Bureau - The Benefits of Going Digital Project: Making Digital Advice Work
Project referrals in all outreaches are steadily growing each week, with people attracted to a service that will help them with navigating the growing welfare benefit landscape as well as to show them the skills needed to be able to use their own devices appropriately, all while guiding them to where the best internet advice is. Having these three remote bases is proving popular and stops people from having to travel to our Bureau, thus saving time and money.
The Project continues to be promoted locally as follows:
• Via Facebook, Twitter & Instagram – linking with partners, funders, and service users.
• Via links local distribution of posters and flyers.
• Via events, such as presentations at Jobcentres and community breakfast meetings to encourage referrals.
• Via marketing materials, such as pop-up banners positioned at each outreach location, as well as posters and leaflets distributed to local community groups, community centres, housing noticeboards, libraries, and jobcentres.
Our 'Benefits of Going Digital' outreaches - Lambhill Stables, Wyndford Community Hub, Milton Arc - were continuing to prove successful throughout the Q2 period. Appointments delivered on a 1:1 basis remained at steady levels in Q2 with the majority of service users turning up for appointments. In addition, we hope to have used this time well in that during Q3 & Q4 we expect to see increased demand from some service users for group sessions so that we can encourage more collaboration, with perhaps one or two of our services users going on to become digital champions for the future. All in all, Q2 has been encouraging and the level of support we are receiving from partners hosting our outreach services in the wider communities has been excellent. Service users are reporting back that they have increased confidence and awareness of the importance of attaining and using their new-founded digital skills for a whole host of everyday information, and especially useful for allaying their fears and heightening their preparedness to cope with the fast-increasing mass of the benefits landscape that will undoubtedly impact their lives throughout 2018 and beyond.
