For Telephone Advice
All Oxford City residents
All Oxford City residents can contact us for telephone advice on 01865 744165
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
Residents outside of Oxford City
Residents outside of Oxford City requiring advice should contact the Oxfordshire Specialist Advice Service on 01865 410660
Oxfordshire Welfare Rights
Our Consultancy Telephone Service (for agencies only) is available:
Tuesday 10am - 1pm
Wednesday 10am - 1pm
Thursday 10am - 1pm
Partnership Projects
Core funded by Oxford City Council
We secured financial gains for Oxfordshire residents of over £8m in 2021. This was made up of £1.8m of additional benefits gained, over £6m of debt write offs and over £3000 in charity applications and food vouchers.
58%
Were Living in Social Housing
78%
Suffered with a Disability
58%
Are Living on Less than £10,000
49%
Had Dependent Children
Meet the Team
Sarah Darby
Manager
Sarah started in advice work as a volunteer adviser at Bicester Citizens Advice Bureau in 2001, Whilst at the CAB her roles included Guidance Tutor, Fairer Charging caseworker and outreach worker.
She was offered a trainee-ship in welfare benefits at Oxfordshire Welfare Rights in 2006 and became a specialist caseworker in early 2008.
She is experienced in delivering training, consultancy delivery, benefits casework and tribunal representation. She became joint Manager of OCWA in 2009 and took over as full time Manager in July 2015.
Sophie Keys
Training Developer
Gary Horne
Debt Caseworker
Gary has 20 years of experience as a debt specialist. After working for a number of years at Citizens Advice in both Gloucestershire and Camden as a debt specialist Gary joined the team in 2017. Gary has extensive experience of helping people to manage their household income and to resolve debt problems.
Gary is a member of the Institute Of Money Advisers and an Intermediary for Debt Relief Orders.
Nick Turnill
Welfare Benefits Specialist
Nick has been working in advice for twenty six years, starting at Berwick-upon-Tweed Citizens Advice Bureau, and has been a full time welfare rights worker since 2002.
He has been a specialist caseworker with OWR for 10 years and represented at over 600 tribunal hearings. He is a co-author of the Child Poverty Action Group’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook, works on the Child Support Handbook and also provides consultancy work for CPAG.