Rochdale Welfare Advice Forum

Rochdale Welfare Advice Forum is facilitated by Citizens Advice and aims to bring together groups and organisations who provide welfare advice and support to residents.

High-quality advice and support is critical for a whole range of issues including poverty, income, indebtedness, employment, health and wellbeing, housing, community cohesion and equality. With demand rising and capacity constrained, the Forum intends to unite frontline organisations to share best practices, training, resources, and referrals, as well as discuss any pressures in the system and how they might be tackled collaboratively. The group meets every quarter and some of the key activities involve:

• Strategic planning to assess community risks, training requirements, joint funding models, events and capacity growth
• Improving referrals between participating members
• Open data exchange on client challenges and skills development opportunities
• Taking a wide-lens view of gaps across food, housing, employment and healthcare to guide resource allocation

If your organisation offers essential direct support to disadvantaged Rochdale residents please do join us.

This group is led by Citizens Advice, who have recently been commissioned as welfare advice 'System Lead' to help facilitate and support organisations across the borough who are providing advice and support to residents. This group is also supported by Action Together and Rochdale Council.

For more information about this Network, please contact our Systems Change Facilitator, Nichelle Cutler: nichelle.cutler@actiontogether.org.uk