I can’t remember a ‘Damascene moment’ that pre-empted my coming in to the bureau to inquire about training as an adviser….it was more than 20 years ago for goodness sake!…(can’t recall what I did last week!) Possibly helping my dad – a retired teacher and intelligent, engaged man – in his struggles with his home computer might have provided a prompt.
Digital exclusion remains an enduring social issue …not the least for many of us more senior advisers! My initial training was overseen by the formidable, larger-than-life, Jan C and was largely paper-based – struggling with pre-UC benefit calculation formulae and working out the entitlement of the legendary ‘Johnstone family.’
Most of my time at Ipswich CA has been spent in the crumbling office building next door to our newish home in Tower St. The IT network was clunky and prone to falling over – sending us back to pen and paper for case recording and the shelf of reference books – the CpAG bible if work was to continue.
Quite soon after I began advising in earnest a bright new IT era was introduced in the shape of database software called PETRA- aptly named after a dead (Blue Peter) dog. I cannot be the only one to shudder at the memory of this unwieldy system and offer a short prayer of gratitude for the adoption of the excellent Casebook we have today.
Early days of advising were mostly overseen by the intimidatingly knowledgeable Sharon and the sadly missed Steve. They were unstintingly supportive and suffered fools (inexperienced advisers) patiently, if not gladly. The ‘hive mind’ of the collected advisers was always, and still is, a valuable resource.
I was sympathetically mentored by some incredibly experienced and skilled advisers and try to pass on a little of what I have learnt when called upon to mentor new recruits. I came in on Thursday and Friday mornings and it was generally a happy and collaborative working environment which I looked forward to as I walked past the queue of clients snaking down Tower Street.
This is a change over the 20 years – with the shift of so much administrative activity online the queue for face-to-face appointments seems to be a thing of the past. The migration to a focus on phone and email-based advice has probably been the most telling change in the nature of the job.
It’s a sad reality in 2026 that struggling clients often feel they have to prioritise keeping charge and credit on the smart phone over food and basic essentials. The phone is the portal to those other essentials.
Correcting false information and adjusting expectations gleaned online is a growing area of advice and internet fraud is something I encounter that wasn’t so much a thing 20 years ago.
Most of the problems we deal with and attempt to advise upon remain historic constants – crippling debt, baffling benefits, employment issues, relationship breakdowns, social care, fraudulent traders …none of it’s new – none of it goes away.
It’s regularly disappointing when you don’t feel you have helped much and offered little more than a reality check but it remains, even after 20 years, a buzz when you do feel someone has left in a better place than when they came in.
For me, housing problems – in particular the insecurity and increasing unaffordability of renting privately – seem to dominate my client list. I think this is a huge social issue, recognised at government level but not being tackled boldly enough. The limited help we can offer to benefit-dependant evictees is frustrating.
A lasting joy of advising is the non-judgemental, uncompetitive and supportive colleagues that I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with over the years. Commitment, humour (often black!), Nelleke’s superb fruitcake! (And after 20 years a glass with your name on it!)……what more could you want?
Steve C
