CARF unveils major restructure as advice officers help 23,5000 clients in Fife
Advice officers who helped over 23,500 clients in Fife and gained almost £10m for the region are heading back into offices to provide more face to face support.
The change comes as part of a significant restructuring by Citizens Advice and Rights Fife (CARF) which unveiled its plans at its annual general meeting held last week in Glenrothes.
The organisation wants to put resources back in local communities, and that means advisers will now be based in local offices to allow more face to face advice sessions to take place across CARF’s bureaux, in a bid to make services more accessible to clients.
CARF has offices in Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Cupar, Cowdenbeath, Leven and Dunfermline and plans to open a new office in Inverkeithing to reflect demand. The move back marks a turnaround from lockdown which saw staff incorporate a huge amount of home working. during the pandemic.
Last year the organisation helped over 23,500 clients with 41,000 issues in the previous year, leading to a financial gain to the region of almost £9.5m.
Jaq McDonald, head of operations, said, “After the pandemic, the organisation like so many others, had to centralise services and incorporate a high degree of home-working. Having spoken with our staff, volunteers and clients, it was clear we needed to adapt our services to be more person-centred.
“We have offices in Kirkcaldy, Glenrothes, Cupar, Cowdenbeath, Leven and Dunfermline and plan to open a new office in Inverkeithing to reflect demand. With our advisers back in local offices, and advice sessions being available across the week, we are ensuring our organisation delivers the high quality advice we are known for but, importantly, improves client experience”.
CARF continues to be in significant demand as the cost of living crisis continues and the welfare system becomes ever more complex.
Added Ms McDonald: “We continue to campaign for policy change, submitting almost 900 cases to Citizens Advice Scotland highlighting unfair practices. Our work in this area provides a lot of evidence to policy makers in Scotland and exerts significant influence on policy change.” The AGM heard it had been another busy year for the organisation whose services are delivered by a mix of paid staff and volunteers.
Volunteers contributed almost 10,000 hours last year, a significant increase on the previous year.
“Our volunteer experience is of exceptional quality,” said Ross Livingstone, CARF’s training officer. “We have been accredited with the Investing in Volunteer award which is the highest accolade we can achieve and demonstrates our commitment to making the volunteer experience in CARF second to none”.
As the organisation moves forward, the future appears to be bright.
Ms McDonald added: “We are adapting our services to be the best we can be for the people who need us. It is a defining moment in how we want services to be going forward, very much putting our clients first.”