Advice Services

We offer two advice services which provide welfare benefits advice, advocacy and signposting to other useful resources

Through these services we offer welfare benefits advice to local residents at two central points in Ladywood and through four outreach locations and to clients with mental health challenges, provided over the phone, at our offices and through home visits

Our two advice services are Ladywood Community Advice and KBF Advice. Both offer support with identifying appropriate benefits for which people may be eligible, help with enquiries, filling in forms and completing applications, and with any subsequent appeals or tribunals. We can also help to explain letters that have been received, or help people to contact the relevant departments at the council or utility providers if there is an issue or a need for further information.

Our volunteers can help with advice around letters and utility bills, and can also signpost people to other specialist advice services if there are issues we're unable to help with.

The Ladywood Community Advice service is an easy to access service for those living in Ladywood and the surrounding areas, offering appointments at the central locations of the River of Life Church in Ladywood and our offices on Monument Road. Appointments are available Monday to Thursday each week. We also see people without appointment at St Germain's Church (monthly) and St Luke's Church, Gas Street (every two weeks).

If you would like to make an appointment to see our Welfare Benefits Advisors through this service please call on 0121 454 8994 or

0121 455 7524.

Our KBF Advice service offers all of the above support to residents of Ladywood and Edgbaston, and is accessible through appointments at our offices, over the phone and through home visits. It is particularly aimed at those who are experiencing poor mental health and is useful for those people who find it difficult to leave their homes. Our advisor also attends 'Your Money Your Way' sessions at the community hub on City Road and has an outreach session at Oasis Church in Harborne.

To make an appointment for this service, please contact us on 0121 455 7524.

Client story

Tanya (not her real name) suffers from multiple sclerosis, and has specific challenges around mobility. When her Personal Independence Payment (PIP) application came up for review, she had no-one to help her and was running out of time. She made a phone call to PIP and was advised to just write "no change" on the review form and send it back to them. Unsurprisingly, as a result of that advice, her PIP award was cancelled, because of the lack of information.

This had a tremendous knock-on-effect: her daily living award of PIP stopped, and this meant her husband was no longer eligible to receive Carer's Allowance. This meant they were no longer eligible for income support and then they were not eligible for housing benefit. They had a total loss of income of £482.28 per week.

Receiving their referral, we completed a benefit check and assisted Tanya in gathering medical evidence and a supporting letter, and submitted a mandatory reconsideration request for her (in the required format), and a new claim for Universal Credit.

The mandatory reconsideration was successful: her PIP was reinstated, with an increase in her mobility award to the enhanced rate. This meant the couple obtained £525.06 a week, making them better off than they had been previously. But more importantly, the client felt listened to and supported by us and was helped at a time when she didn’t know what to do or where to turn.

"Home visits make such a big dfiference! You did a brilliant job.

I would not have been able to do it without you."

This work is supported by

The Henry Smith Foundation

The Sheldon Trust

Individual donors