Get Advice

We offer access to advice in several ways: Online, In-Person, Phone and Email.

Due to our data protection rules, we are unable to contact clients who are referred to us by third parties. The person needing advice should contact us directly themselves.

Online

You may find the answer to your question on Adviceguide – Here you can search for information on Benefits and Tax Credits, Debt and Money Worries, Housing, Employment, Family and Relationships, Consumer and Energy Issues and more.

In-Person

We deliver face-to-face advice sessions at many community venues around Barnsley. For most sessions, no appointment is needed. You can just turn up and wait to see an adviser. Drop-in sessions operate on a first-come, first-served basis – So please be aware that you may have to wait to be seen at busy times.

Due to funding requirements, some outreach services have restrictions on who can attend. Please check you meet the eligibility criteria before making a special journey, as we will be unable to advise you at the outreach if you do not meet the criteria. For full details of all our in-person services, please click here.

Phone

Universal Service – General Advice, available to anyone living in Barnsley.

  • To book an appointment or request a telephone callback, please dial 01226 447670 and leave a message giving your name, telephone number and whether you would like to make an appointment or for someone to call you back.

Debt helpline – If you need help with money or debt, you can call the national Citizens Advice debt helpline: 0800 240 4420

  • Available 9am to 8pm, Mon to Fri and 9:30am to 1pm on Sat.

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.

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.

In-Person Advice Service

See below for available sessions and eligibility criteria. For session updates and cancellations, please check the homepage and follow us on Instagram.

North Area Advice Service – For residents of Darton East, Darton West, Old Town and St Helens Wards. If you do not live in these wards, we will not be able to assist you on this project:

  • Every Monday, 9:00am – 1:00pm, at Emmanuel Church, Huddersfield Road, S75 1DT.
  • 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month, 4.30pm – 7.00pm, at Mapplewell Village Hall, Darton Lane, S75 6AL.
  • 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month, 2.30pm – 5.00pm, at Roundhouse Lifelong Learning Centre, Laithes Crescent, S71 3AE.
  • Every Wednesday, 1.00pm – 5.00pm, at Mapplewell Village Hall, Darton Lane, S75 6AL.
  • Every Thursday, 9.00am – 1.00pm, at The Darton Centre, Huddersfield Road, S75 5ND.
  • Every Friday, 9.00am – 1.00pm, at Roundhouse Lifelong Learning Centre, Laithes Crescent, S71 3AE.

Central Area Advice Service – For residents of Central, Dodworth, Kingstone, Stairfoot and Worsbrough. If you do not live in these wards we will not be able to assist you on this project:

  • Every Monday, 9:00am – 12:00pm, (Drop-in service, just turn up!), at 1st Floor Wellington House, 36 Wellington Street, Barnsley, S70 1WA.
  • Every Monday, 1:00pm – 4:00pm, (Drop-in service, just turn up!), Worsbrough Common Community Centre, Warren Quarry Lane, S70 4ND.
  • Every Wednesday, 1:00pm – 4:00pm, (Pre-booked appointments only*), Pollyfox Community Centre, Pollyfox Way, Dodworth, S75 3QR.
  • Every Thursday, 9:30am – 12:30pm, (Drop-in service, just turn up!), Lavender Court, Croft Road, Kendray, S70 3FG.
  • Every Thursday, 9:00am – 12:00pm, (Pre-booked appointments only*), Maltas Court Community Centre, 1 Maltas Court, Worsbrough Dale, S70 4QG.

*To make a PRE-BOOKED APPOINTMENT, please call  01226 107066 to leave a message and we will contact you with further instructions. This number is for booking appointments for the Central face-to-face advice service ONLY. For DROP-IN sessions, no appointment is needed, just turn up at the allotted time.

Penistone Area Advice Service – For the residents of Penistone East and Penistone West Wards. If you do not live in these wards we will NOT be able to assist you at this drop-in session.

  • 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month, 9.00am – 12.00pm
  • No appointment needed, just drop-in!, at Penistone Library, High Street, S36 6BR.

South Area Advice Service – For residents of Darfield, Hoyland Milton, Rockingham and Wombwell – CHANGES TO THE SOUTH AREA SERVICE DELIVERY.

  • PLEASE NOTE: Citizens Advice Barnsley will no longer be delivering drop-in advice sessions in the South Area.
  • Future sessions will be delivered in the South Area by DIAL, starting Wednesday 1st July 2026. Please contact DIAL on 01226 240273 for further information.

Barnsley Energy Advice and Training Project (B.E.A.T.) – 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, please come to our weekly energy advice drop-in advice session.

  • Every Tuesday between 9.30am and 12.30pm at Wellington House.
  • No appointment needed!

BSL Advice Service – For Deaf clients who require British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation.

  • This service is only available to clients who use British Sign Language.
  • Every Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am – 12:00pm, at 1st Floor Wellington House, 36 Wellington Street, Barnsley, S70 1WA.
  • You do not need an appointment to attend, you can just drop-in!

Other Services

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

  • This 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, 8:00am – 6:00pm.

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.