“WE ARE fighting for your rights.”

That is the rallying call from a charity which estimates its social and economic value across Basingstoke and Deane is around £14.5 million.

On Tuesday, members of Citizens Advice Basingstoke and Tadley gave a presentation to borough councillors to show the impact the charity’s work has on the wider community.

During the meeting staff from the charity highlighted how its advice work on issues such as Universal Credit has affected residents.

Training manager at Citizens Advice Basingstoke and Tadley, Di Lewis, said: “Last year we helped more than 14,000 people and tackled more than 22,500 issues directly

“With the rollout of Universal Credit, we want to make sure Basingstoke and Tadley residents don’t fall into the pitfalls experienced by others elsewhere. That’s why we launched our Help to Claim scheme earlier this month.”

The charity also raised the issue around a complaint raised with the Competitions Market Authority, regarding consumer loyalty in the telecommunications and financial service sectors.

Senior volunteer, Jane Komrower, added: “Many people don’t realise that we are a charity and rely on volunteers and fundraising to keep helping the community”

“With issues like the loyalty penalty we are fighting for your rights. We can only continue to make the case for stronger reforms with donations and grants.”

Citizens Advice has more than 80 years of history of campaigning which has included the Tenancy Deposit Scheme launched in 2007.

Di added: “Issues aren’t just one-dimensional, they are multi-layered. For example, someone in debt could also be suffering from mental or physical health conditions, so our impact goes further than people think.”

To find out more information about the work the charity provides across the borough, go to basingstokeandtadleycab.org.uk.