Citizens Advice awareness week gets off to a flying start

Tuesday 14 September 2021

Citizens Advice Guernsey’s newest employee is getting off the blocks by running in next month’s London Marathon to raise funds for the charity.

New Deputy CEO Annie Ashmead is gearing up to compete in the 2021 London Marathon for the local charity on Sunday 3 October.

“This will be my seventh marathon and I’m really looking forward to the atmosphere," said Mrs Ashmead. "I’ll be running with my husband, Gareth, and if I did better than in 2008 it would be a miracle!

“As then I felt I was in peak physical condition but even then as it rained heavily on the day, I was beaten over the line by a very soggy womble. I can tell you that does very little for your self-esteem.”

Pictured: Citizens Advice's current opening hours. 

Mrs Ashmead is set to start work as a member of CAG's management team soon after the marathon, but she is no stranger to the charity’s work.

“I’ve been volunteering at Citizens Advice since July 2020 as part of research and campaigns, before training as a Generalist Adviser a couple of months later and qualifying in April this year,” said Mrs Ashmead. 

“I have had tremendous satisfaction from both roles: on the one hand as an Adviser offering help and support to individual islanders, and as part of the research and campaigns team gathering evidence to identify common problems in order to help improve the policies and practices that affect us all.”

She encouraged anyone who likes to help others and has some time to spare to get with Citizens Advice to find out more about volunteering opportunities.

CEO Kerry Ciotti added: “Annie has been a terrific volunteer and I’m now delighted to welcome her to the management team. She really has got this year’s Awareness Week off to a flying start. Clients are contacting us with increasingly complex problems, so her call for new volunteers is very timely.

Pictured: Mrs Ciotti is hoping that Mrs Ashmead's exertions will inspire some generous donations.

“Her amazing fundraising pledge is also a real boost. Citizens Advice Guernsey directly helps around eight percent of Islanders each year and we rely on Islanders’ generosity to let us deliver that essential service."

To sponsor Annie go HERE then click on London Marathon 2021 - Annie Ashmead.

Citizens Advice Guernsey’s 2021 Awareness Week runs from Monday 13 to 20 September and people can get in touch on 242266 to find out more about volunteering opportunities.