Our work with Citizens Advice
Our project with Citizens Advice helps people to identity and access unclaimed financial support.
Financial inclusion
Our partnership with Citizens Advice helps people who are struggling financially get the money they need to afford the essentials. The partnership provides Foodbank visitors with financial advice and support delivered by a Cambridge Citizens Advice advisor and forms a part of the Foodbank’s long-term strategy to end the need for food banks.
Advisors visit our Foodbank Welcome Centres and Fairbite Food Clubs, and support people who are visiting to collect food by doing a financial assessment and identifying any unclaimed financial support they are entitled to. Our volunteers can also refer people who are visiting the Foodbank Welcome Centre to Citizens Advice.
Since the project began in 2023, over £1 million of financial support has been unlocked for people struggling to afford the essentials in Cambridge. This represents a ten-fold return on investment so far, and has directly led people to no longer need the Foodbank's help because they have enough money in their pocket to afford essentials like food.
At least a quarter of those receiving this support no longer need our services because of the lifeline they’ve been given.