From debt-ridden single mum to CEO thanks to Citizens Advice Portsmouth

‘I was at my lowest ebb, I couldn’t see a way out. It was a very bad time for me,’ she says. ‘My confidence was at rock bottom and I felt as though I had nothing to offer the world.’

That was until Sandy, now 48, plucked up the courage to visit Citizens Advice Chichester.

She explains: ‘I can’t ever express how much the day I walked into that office changed my life.

‘I made my way out of the terrible situation I was in, solely through Citizens Advice’.

From feeling that she was drowning in debt and unable to cope, Sandy is now the chief executive officer of the Portsmouth branch of the charity that helped pull her through.

On that first visit in 2006, she overheard a receptionist explain to members of the public who were complaining about the wait that they were in desperate need of volunteers, and that is why there was a delay.

Sandy says: ‘That comment really spoke to me. I thought, if they need people, maybe they will need me?

‘Maybe this is something I could do? Perhaps on reception.’

She talked through her issues and it became clear to the adviser that she was doing all the right things.

Having had a successful career as a vet practice manager before becoming a stay-at-home-mum, Sandy had a wealth of management experience. So, rather than being a receptionist, she was encouraged to train as a volunteer adviser.

‘After I dropped my children off at school I spent all my time there’, says Sandy. I flew through the training knowing that I was learning something valuable and important.

‘They could sense that at first I had a confidence issue and I was very shy, but soon my confidence grew and I became a specialist in debt during the recession (2008).

‘There was a lot of debt at that time and I could understand how the clients were feeling. I had been in a lot of situations they were in and Citizens Advice didn’t judge me.

‘It was wonderful to be able to do that for others.’

Sandy was offered a part-time job at Citizens Advice and she had proved so adept at working through clients’ complex situations that her boss encouraged her to study law.

Sandy took an Ilex course at Chichester College and graduated as a legal executive in 2014.

She soon became a full-time project coordinator at the charity and went on to be promoted to chief executive of the Portsmouth branch a decade after joining the organisation.

During that time Sandy met her partner Darren and they had Annabelle, now five.

She beams and says: ‘I got myself out of debt, off benefits, and my children witnessed the value of education.

‘I went through a very tough period but managed to transform my life.

‘My four older children are grown up but they have all learned from the experience.’

One is now a money adviser herself.

‘They’re all fans of volunteering and talk about how Citizens Advice changed their mum’s life.’

Sandy admits she had not even considered volunteering until the day she walked into Chichester Citizens Advice. Now she sees it as a two-way street.

‘Everyone sees volunteering as giving something, but it actually gives the volunteer confidence and a value’, she explains. ‘Everyone has a value to contribute to their community.’

But Sandy believes unless they are given the opportunity they will never discover it.

‘They can make a difference’, she says with conviction. ‘There is always something they can do, something they are good at. ‘They can use that to make their community a better place to live in. It’s not just about giving, it’s about receiving.’

There are a wide range of voluntary roles at Citizens Advice ranging from HR, IT, business development, immigration specialist, finance, administration, advisers and receptionists.

Sandy adds: ‘Come in and talk to us – you may have skills we didn’t even know we needed. And a lot of our volunteers end up in paid roles.

‘It’s a wonderful feeling to leave work each day knowing you have made a difference.’

Citizens Advice is free, confidential and for you

Citizens Advice Portsmouth was a small operation which had lost its funding and was struggling to survive when Sandy joined in 2014.

Today it is a thriving charity that delivers £750,000-worth of projects into the city – that is the value of the advice it provides.

Last year more than £2.5m-worth of debt was written off for people in Portsmouth.

They deliver projects advising on money matters, benefits, cancer, elderly people, energy, vulnerable people, and immigration – in partnership with the Red Cross.

Sandy says: ‘If someone is sitting at home, especially during this period, feeling they’re drowning in debt and there’s nothing they can do, if they walk through our door it will get better. ‘We are not part of the local authority, they can trust us.

‘We have a mental health specialist, we deal with domestic violence.

‘Even if we can’t help with something we don’t specialise in we know the partners in the city who specialise in it.

‘We know where to send them and we try to make the journey as smooth, clear and calm as possible.

‘People shouldn’t underestimate what we can help them with.’

Call (023) 940 0660 or go to ​​​​​ caportsmouth.org.uk.