“It’s a pleasure and a privilege to introduce myself as the Chair of Trustees for Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East)(CAWS)

Prior to joining , I had experience as a Chair of a Citizens Advice service, having held that role in Barnet, North London for six years until 2019, so I am familiar with the structures and processes of the network. I look forward to working closely with the Leadership Team and Partners in making a difference for our residents.”

Ian joined as Trustee in November 2022 and became Chair in January 2023.  Ian holds a number of volunteer and governance roles in the sector. 

“I joined Citizens Advice as a Trustee around the time that I finished full time work. I worked for 35 years in hospitality and retail in various roles which has given me experience in operational management, supply chain and customer service.

I chose Citizens Advice as it gave the opportunity to use my skills in new areas. One of the most interesting aspects of the role is the number of different backgrounds that the volunteers and staff have, and the opportunity to create a new network in a different sector.

As a Trustee I support the governance of the organisation, and I support the Chair of the Board as Vice Chair. I am also the Chair of the Strategy Committee. I enjoy the role as it is varied and flexible around other commitments.”

Sarah joined as Trustee to the board in 2016 and has held a number of roles including Chair of the People Committee. 

“I have been a Trustee for three years. Our family lived for 27 years in Haywards Heath which is where our children went to school. We now live close to the Shoreham branch. I have volunteered as a Trustee as I am tremendously impressed by the work that the organisation does in both our own area and at the national level. I enjoy working in a team, particularly with people who have different work experiences to my own. It is also an opportunity to put something back into the community I lived in for so long.I am a Chartered Accountant, and I spent the bulk of my career working in the Global Asset Management industry, where I held a number of senior governance and finance roles. As well as attending regular Board meetings I am the current Chair of the Finance committee and member of the Compliance and Governance Committee. In both of these roles I am able to use some of the skills and knowledge I built up during my career.”

Nick joined as a Trustee in 2017 and held a number of roles before using his Finance skills and knowledge as our current Treasurer.

Les joined the Trustee board in 2023 after stepping back from paid work and wanting to get into voluntary work to “give something back”  and give something back to people, families and children experiencing difficult times.  Les has a Civil Service background but his specialism and interest of recent years is Human Resources.

Les is currently the Chair of the People Committee and supports the board with attendance at a number of Committees.  Les is a champion for our Mid Sussex offices. 

“At the end of my business career, and as a magistrate, I wished to ‘give back’ to society and the obvious choice was Citizens Advice, as it stands for supporting, helping and advising members of our community on a huge raft of different and challenging issues.

I was a volunteer adviser at CAWS for five years, and got a huge buzz of satisfaction every time I tried to help out and make a difference for clients. As a Trustee, I feel privileged to be able to contribute to the bigger picture on issues of planning and strategy.  I still, however, continue to be at the sharp end as an adviser for Citizens Advice Brighton and Hove.”

Tony joined as a Trustee in 2019 and champions our Volunteering team and the Worthing Office.

“Citizens Advice is an amazing organisation that makes people’s lives better all over the country.” –  This is why Mike wanted to be involved, though becoming a Trustee was rather accidental: he previously lived in East Hertfordshire, knew some people who volunteered with the local CA and soon he was hooked.

Mike’s background had been initially in engineering, then in purchasing and latterly in tutoring students of purchasing in universities and colleges. All this taught him the importance of analysis, of negotiation, of dealing with people of all sorts and of communication.

Being a Trustee is a most rewarding experience and, having moved to Worthing, he joined the CAWS board.

“I enjoy contributing to something I believe to be very worthwhile, and working with interesting people – as well as the challenge of helping to guide CAWS through difficult times.”

Since joining as Trustee in 2019, Mike is Chair of the Compliance and Governance Group and champions a number of offices including Worthing and Horsham.

Alex has lived in Horsham for 25 years, after moving here to work for the RSPCA and have also had senior communications roles at the Environment Agency, Department of Health, Central Office of Information and Accenture. Most of those roles offered a combination of media, political, digital, campaigns, risk management, for social good – and he’d like to use the experience he gathered to support Citizens Advice across my home county of West Sussex. 

“Citizens Advice has a strong social purpose and does so much work to support and advise those in need. Across West Sussex, it helps thousands each year – particularly those facing poverty, unemployment or relationship breakdowns.”  Alex has always been impressed by its ability to gather data, examples and advocate on the part of those it helps, to achieve positive change.

Alex joined as a Trustee in 2020 and sits on a number of committees including Strategy and Fundraising.