Get Advice

We offer access to advice in several ways:

Online

You may find the answer to your question on Adviceguide. Here you’ll find information on housing, work, debt and money, benefits, consumer issues, relationships, law and rights, discrimination, tax issues, etc.

Email

You can email us using the contact form below and a trained adviser will aim to answer your question within two working days.   Please check your spam / junk mail for our reply.

* PLEASE NOTE

During the closure of services over Christmas and New Year we will respond to messages after 3rd January 2025

To help us route your query to the most appropriate advisor, please answer the following question

Please ensure you have read our email disclaimer.

If you have asked us a question or sent us information, we will aim to deal with this within the next 2 working days.

There is no further need to contact us about your enquiry unless your circumstances change again.

Sometimes, for security reasons, we may not be able to reply by email. If this is the case, we will phone or write to you

If you are concerned about confidentiality then please contact us by phone or in person.

PLEASE NOTE:  We are unable to contact clients who are referred to us by third parties due to our Data Protection Rules, please ask your client to either telephone us or to personally complete the form themselves.

Phone

If you want to talk to someone to get information or advice, you can call our Adviceline service on (freephone) 0800 144 88 48 (you will be asked to input a landline number, if you don’t have one please add 01226 209365). You’ll speak to a trained assessor who’ll talk to you about your enquiry to try and deal with your problems and help you to decide what to do. Phone lines are open Monday to Friday, from 10.00 to 16.00

National Debtline: 0800 240 4420     9am to 5pm- Mon – Fri

Face to Face

PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR DETAILS OF OUTREACH SESSIONS WHICH ARE NOW OPEN FOR FACE TO FACE ADVICE, PLEASE SEE ACCESS REQUIREMENTS, IF YOU DO NOT MEET THESE REQUIREMENTS YOU WILL NOT BE SEEN AT THESE OUTREACH SERVICES.

North Area:

Emmanuel Church, Huddersfield Road, S75 1DT      Every Monday, 9am – 1pm

Mapplewell Village Hall, Darton Lane, S75 6AL    1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month, 4.30pm – 7.00pm

Roundhouse Library, Laithes Crescent, S71 3AE     2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, 2.30pm – 5.00pm

Mapplewell Village Hall, Darton Lane, S75 6AL     Every Wednesday 1.00pm – 5.00pm

The Darton Centre, Huddersfield Road, S75 5ND     Every Thursday 9.00am – 1.00pm

Roundhouse Library, Laithes Crescent, S71 3AE     Every Friday 9.00am – 1.00pm

Please note these sessions are only available to people who live in the North Area (Darton East, Darton West, Old Town and St Helens wards)

South Area:

Monday – The Hoyland Centre     3pm – 7pm (Welfare Rights and Generalist Advisers)

Tuesday – The Hoyland Centre     9am – 12.30pm (Generalist Adviser),  1pm – 4.30pm (Welfare Rights Adviser)

Wednesday – Darfield Community Centre  9am – 12pm (Welfare Rights and Generalist Advisers)

Thursday – Wombwell Library     9am – 12.30pm (Generalist Adviser),  1pm – 4.30pm (Welfare Rights Adviser)

Please note these sessions are only available to people who live or work in the South Area (Darfield, Hoyland Milton, Rockingham and Wombwell Wards)

NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED, JUST DROP IN.

Central Area Drop-in:

Monday’s & Thursday’s between 9.30am – 12.30pm at Wellington House, 36 Wellington Street, Barnsley, S70 1WA

Drop-in sessions for people living in the Central Ward  (Central, Dodworth, Kingstone, Stairfoot & Worsbrough)

Barnsley Energy Advice and Training Project (BEAT)

If you’re struggling to pay your gas or electricity bills, are in debt to your energy supplier, or want to know more information about switching or fixing tariffs, come to our weekly energy advice drop-in advice session. Every Tuesday between 9.30am and 12.30pm at Wellington House. No appointment needed!

Penistone Library Drop-in

Drop-in sessions taking place on the first and third Wednesday of every month, between 9.00am and 12.00pm at Penistone Library.

NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED, JUST DROP IN.

BSL SERVICE

Weekly face-to-face advice sessions for Deaf clients who require British Sign Language interpretation will take place at Wellington House between 10am and 12 noon on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

You do not need an appointment to attend, you can just drop-in!

This service is only available to clients who use British Sign Language.

PLEASE CHECK FOR SESSION CANCELLATIONS AND UPDATES ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

Video Advice: To book advice via video call please leave us a message on 01226 666017 or use our email contact form above.

BSL Textphone 0800 144 8884

Universal Credit: Help to Claim Service

Get help applying for Universal Credit.

Citizens Advice Help to Claim service can support you in the early stages of your Universal Credit Claim, from the application to your first payment.

Help to Claim is a dedicated service from Citizens Advice.  It’s free, independent and confidential.  Our trained advisers can help you with things like how to gather evidence for your application or how to prepare for your work coach appointment.

Call us for free:  0800 144 8 444    8am until 6pm

For online advice including webchat visit:  https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/helptoclaim/

Report a Hate Crime

Citizens Advice Barnsley is a Third Party Reporting Centre for Hate Crime.

Hate crime is an incident that targets someone based on their social identity because of:

  • disability
  • gender identity
  • race, ethnicity or nationality
  • religion, faith or belief
  • sexual orientation

Hate and can take place anywhere, in person or online, and includes:

  • verbal abuse
  • threatening behaviour
  • damage to property
  • physical assault
  • offensive graffiti
  • offensive comments or images on social media or text messages

Can I report for someone else?

Yes.  If you witness a hate crime you can report this, even if you don’t know the name of the person it happened to.

Can I report anonymously?

Yes you can, although it may make it difficult to investigate.

Hate Crime can be reported directly to South Yorkshire Police here.

Alternatively you can report to us here.