Citizens Advice Ipswich “humbled” to receive invite to Buckingham Palace
Chief Officer at Citizens Advice Ipswich, Nicky Willshere, was delighted to accept an invitation to go to a royal garden party on Wednesday 8 May. The invitation came as recognition of the contribution Citizens Advice Ipswich has made to the people of Ipswich.
Nicky travelled to London to attend the event with her Operations Manager Margaret Vane. They joined His Majesty, the King, The Queen, Princess Anne, and The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince Edward and Sophie in the Palace gardens for tea, along with other guests from across the country and professions.
Nicky said:
“When I received the letter I was really chuffed. I thought it would be a great chance to start off our Anniversary celebrations – Citizens Advice Ipswich is 50 this year and this event was the first party!
“I was really pleased to take Margaret with me as my guest to acknowledge her contribution to keeping our organisation working in such challenging times. I was both humbled and delighted to attend and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect for afternoon tea in the Palace Gardens.
“It’s an honour to have been selected to attend and it was great to represent Citizens Advice Ipswich. I just wish I could have taken all the volunteers and staff with us.”
Margaret Vane said:
“It was a once in a lifetime event for sure, and it was an honour to know that the hard work of all our volunteers and staff to support the community, often helping people in very challenging situations, was being recognised.”
In 2023-24, Citizens Advice Ipswich helped just under 10,000 clients. The advice given led to £1.4 million debts being written off and over £2.5 million income gained for the clients across the Ipswich area.