The charity provides advice, information and in-depth casework support to over 12,000 people in Gateshead each year, handling almost 80,000 advice issues. Our skilled and dedicated team is committed to helping people to know and understand their rights and responsibilities across the full expanse of social welfare issues including housing, money and debt, welfare benefits, employment, family and health.
We actively campaign on concerns facing the local population such as fuel and food poverty, and we provide specialist support in response to clients’ individual needs and circumstances including mental health and long-term illness such as dementia and cancer.
Our Vision
Our vision is a fair society for all, with lives well lived.
As we stand today, we are a long way from a fair society for all. However, we firmly believe that the enormity of the task ahead of us does not in any way justify us shrinking our ambition. When people born into poverty are cast to live a life in poverty we need to act. When inequality is increasing rather than diminishing through misguided values, policy and practice we need to act. For too many people basic needs are lacking and self-fulfilment is impossible. Only if the system supports and enables (and doesn’t stigmatise or cause hardship), only then will we have a fair society for all with lives well lived.
Our Mission
Our mission is to mobilise knowledge so the system works, it works for everyone, and it powers the changes we need to be an equal and inclusive society
At Citizens Advice Gateshead we believe that by mobilising knowledge that delivers tangible social value we can power change to move us closer to our vision for a fair society for all, with lives well lived. Through our charitable activities we will be working to mobilise knowledge across multiple spheres of influence to power the change needed to enable a fair society for all.
Our Values
Our values are central to our everyday work at Citizens Advice Gateshead. Four simple concepts that inform our activities, our behaviour and the way we work together for a fair society for all, with lives well lived.
Rock the system
Our mission is to mobilise knowledge so the system works and it works for everyone. We put the individual needs of our clients at the heart of everything we do every day, and actively work individually and collectively to be part of a system that has a tangible and positive impact on people’s lives.
Stand up for equality
We believe that our common humanity makes us equal in worth, dignity and rights and are striving for a fair society for all, with lives well lived. We value diversity, actively seek out and challenge discrimination and respectfully speak out as advocates for social change.
Own it!
We strive every day to be the best that we can be, holding ourselves personally accountable, taking ownership of our actions, our achievements and our development. With our focus on efficiency and shrewd planning we take pride in making every pound count and securing the long-term health of the charity.
Blaze the trail
We know that the status quo is not an option, so we actively embrace and power change. We challenge, come up with new ways of doing things, and are always prepared to give new ideas a go.
