As you may know, I am Chair of the Board of Trustees for Citizen's Advice Merton and Lambeth (lovingly referred to as CAML). In 2023-24 we supported 25,000 clients. Our support generated more than £3m of direct financial benefit for our clients. The broader economic and social benefit of improving our clients' wellbeing is an estimated £19.6m. We make a big impact.

Clients are coming to us for help with increasingly complex issues, which take longer to properly support. We already are unable to pick up every phone call as we don't have enough resources. While demand is growing, our income is shrinking as the charity sector and local authorities deal with reduced budgets. We are not a government service and not funded directly by central government. We rely on grants and contracts from local councils, charitable foundations and individual donors. We need to increase our income from donors and fundraising in particular.

So, I am running Oxford half marathon on 12 October 2025, and UTMB Kosci30 on 27 November 2025 (a 32km trail race in Australia's Snowy Mountains) to raise funds for CAML. The trail race will be the further I have ever run - and with the most elevation.

I would appreciate any donation you can afford to sponsor my runs and support our work. If you want to know more about our work, please visit our website: https://www.caml.org.uk/research-and-campaigns

I will leave you with a couple of real life case studies where we have made a difference to people in our community (*names have been changed).

Case Study 1

In her late 80s, Icie* lives on her own and loves her independence. As well as her state pension she has a small private pension and some modest savings. She got a phone call from someone saying they were investigating criminal bank staff who were taking money from people’s bank accounts. They told her to go to a specific branch and withdraw £1,500 in cash and, if asked, to say it was for a new bathroom. She was then to post the money to a given address. She did as she was told. They did this several times, telling her to use different branches and to keep quiet about having been asked to get the money out. The bank asked no questions.

A few days later, she went to withdraw some cash for herself but found her card had been stopped. The manager told her that she had been scammed out of almost £10,000. They said there was nothing they could do because she had authorised the withdrawals. She notified the police and Action Fraud.

Worried sick because she had lost most of her life savings, Icie came to a drop-in session at CAML’s Mitcham office. She wanted to know if there was any further action she could take to get some or all of her money back. With her permission, we wrote to the bank and asked why they hadn’t asked her for paperwork proving she was having her bathroom renewed, and why bank staff hadn’t been notified about all these large cash withdrawals. As a single elderly person, Icie was a typical target for scammers so the bank should have implemented banking protocol much earlier.

Following CAML’s intervention, the bank refunded all Icie’s money because they accepted they had not followed the banking protocol. Icie was so relieved and slept well that night.

Case Study 2

Amber* was in debt. She had over £4,000 of rent and Council Tax arrears. She could see no way out of her situation and dreaded the bailiffs knocking on the door.

The debts were manageable until her partner was made redundant. To support themselves and their three children, they claimed Universal Credit and Amber took on a full time, but low paid, job. While adjusting to their lower income, the couple’s Payment Plan lapsed and their debts soared. The Council Tax arrears were placed with the bailiffs and Amber couldn’t face contacting her Housing Association landlord.

At this point she came to Citizens Advice Merton and Lambeth. We explained that Council Tax and rent arrears are priority debts and must not be ignored. This could lead to their being taken to court and even evicted. We did a Benefit Check which confirmed that the family was receiving all the benefits they were entitled to. We encouraged Amber to put together a note of her family’s income and spending so she could make realistic plan to tackle her rent and Council Tax arrears. We told her how to seek further help if she needed to.

With the confidence our guidance gave her, she contacted the Housing Association who reinstated her Payment Plan at an achievable level. She also contacted the Council’s enforcement team and agreed a Payment Plan with them.

Some weeks later Amber contacted us saying ‘Thank you for providing this amazing service and if I ever come across someone in a similar situation that I was in, I will send them your way!’

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