More about us
David Stickland
Trainer / Director (he/him)
Our courses are designed and overseen by David Stickland, who has delivered over 2000 courses to the advice sector over the last 20 years and is considered to be one of the leading trainers in the field. He has also designed and delivered many of the benefits courses on other national programmes including those of Child Poverty Action Group, Advice UK, Shelter, Homeless Link and Gingerbread. From 1998 until 2003, David worked as a Welfare Benefits Caseworker within Citizens Advice and the independent advice sector in London. Before benefits advice, David trained and worked as an English language teacher and from 2002 David returned to his teaching roots when he joined the London Borough of Greenwich Welfare Rights Service as a Training Officer. He lives with his family in London and enjoys swimming, watching films and walking with Dorothy, their dog.
Will Hadwen
Trainer (he/him)
Will is a second tier adviser with Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland and contributes to Child Poverty Action Group’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook. Former roles include Rights Adviser at the charity Working Families, where Will continues to volunteer, specialising in benefits advice for working parents and carers. He also previously worked at Citizens Advice and nowadays does locum work for their Expert Advice Team. Welfare rights is a full-time obsession but when not advising, training or writing Will is a keen birdwatcher and singer.
Michael Chambers
Trainer (he/him)
Michael Chambers is a Welfare Rights and Money Advice Trainer with 25 years experience. He has provided training for Shelter, Citizens Advice, LASA, SITRA, CPAG and many other voluntary, statutory and charitable sector organisations. He is a team manager at Hertfordshire County Council's Money Advice Unit, where he has worked since 1992. Michael manages Hertfordshire's training programme, which delivers benefits and money advice training to council staff as well as the private and voluntary sector.
Maria Solomon
Trainer (she/her)
Maria is a Welfare Rights Trainer and Adviser with over 20 years’ experience. She is currently Senior Adviser for a charity in Leeds, working on benefit claims up to and including the Upper Tribunal. Maria originally qualified as a solicitor and has previously worked as an adviser for Bradford City Council, Bradford Citizens Advice, CHAS, Oxfordshire Welfare Rights and Leeds Law Centre.
Sarah Batty
Trainer (she/her)
Sarah has 25 years experience in the welfare rights world. Having started as a Citizens Advice Volunteer she went on to work in local authorities, housing associations and voluntary advice sectors as a Welfare Rights Adviser, Trainer and Manager. She has also been an MP caseworker. Sarah has delivered and developed specialist training for Child Poverty Action Group for 6 years. She completed a Masters Degree in Social Policy in 2017 and is a regular speaker on social security policy. Sarah is a Welfare Rights Team Leader at Durham County Council and in her spare time plays the clarinet and enjoys walking.
Marcin Brajta
Trainer (he/him)
Marcin qualified as a solicitor in February 2020 and currently practices in welfare benefits, housing and public law at Camden Community Law Centre, where he regularly challenges the decisions of local authorities and the Department for Work and Pensions. Having joined the Law Centre as a Welfare Benefits Caseworker in 2016, Marcin now also oversees the work of their welfare benefits team. He previously worked for Stirling Citizens Advice Bureau as their Income Maximisation and Debt Caseworker.
Liam Casey
Trainer (he/him)
Liam is a Welfare Rights Adviser based in Glasgow, Scotland. He currently works for a carers centre and housing association in Glasgow, and is also a freelance second-tier adviser and trainer for Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland. Liam has managed pro bono projects, supervising lawyers on disability benefit appeals, for Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K), and Pro Bono Community. He has also worked with One Parent Families Scotland, various Citizens Advice Bureaux, as well as independent advice centres in Scotland. He has experience in community education settings, including as a tutor for the Workers Educational Association in Scotlland, where he developed his passion for participatory and inclusive training.
Charlotte Richards
Trainer (she/her)
Charlotte is a Welfare Rights Adviser with 19 years experience, she currently works at Bristol City Council. She has written and delivered benefits training to a range to local authority employees, housing associations and voluntary sector as well as providing specialist advice and casework. Charlotte enjoys getting out and about with her family and dog in the Forest of Dean where she lives.
Lindsay Fletcher
Trainer (she/her)
Lindsay has been a Welfare Rights Officer for over 14 years following completing her Law degree. She is currently working at Lancashire County Council Welfare Rights Service and previously with Citizens Advice Manchester. She provides internal and external training on all aspects of welfare benefits. Her claim to fame is getting in the Guinness Book of Records for being ‘the world’s fastest texter’. Lindsay enjoys walking her dog Fudge, playing piano, cornet and saxophone.
Sam Scarlett
Trainer (she/her)
Sam is a Welfare Benefits Caseworker currently working in a specialist benefits role for the NHS. Sam has over 10 years of welfare benefits experience working for organisations including Citizens Advice, the Royal British Legion, Macmillan Cancer Support and Students’ Union Advice services. Her claim to fame is that she was once Mayoress of her hometown. Sam enjoys walking and running in the Yorkshire Dales, where she lives.
Kate Anstee
Trainer (she/her)
Kate is a Senior Welfare Rights Officer and co-manager of a Local Authority advice service in the Northwest. She is extremely passionate about welfare rights, tackling injustice, and supporting vulnerable people to access their rights. She has worked in the advice sector for over 10 years including as a Benefits Case Worker for Citizens Advice. In 2023 she qualified as an Advanced Paralegal through the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) with a Level 6 Higher Professional Diploma in Law & Practice. Before benefits Kate had a long career in the NHS and as a Youth Worker. She is involved in a number of charities local to her including the Women Centre and a community events organisation. In her spare time she is a DJ and loves to go on outdoor adventures with her son!
Pamela Carysforth
Trainer (she/her)
Pamela is a Welfare Benefit Officer for Jigsaw Homes and has spent over 20 years in various benefit roles, including Appeals Officer, Welfare Rights Officer and Training and Development Manager. Her welfare rights journey began as a Clerical Officer in a local authority, where she took on a job then picked up a passion. She likes to bring together and support advisers from different advice settings, for instance housing, charities and partner organisations, to make sure no adviser is left behind and promote professional development. Pamela loves income maximisation and uses her knowledge to set up processes to identify opportunities to increase income via the benefit system. She loves her maths and spreadsheets! She is a Mental Health First Aider and is passionate about dignity and challenging discrimination in the welfare system and is a member of the NAWRA equality and diversity committee.
Victoria Longhi
Administrator (she/her)
Victoria has worked as a Freelance Administrator and Website Manager for the past 10 years. Previously she worked developing and marketing financial software in London and New York. Her free time is taken up with her 2 young children and a Bernese Mountain dog, Badger. As a family they all enjoy snowboarding, cycling, climbing and walking. She is a twitcher so generally loves being outdoors looking at nature.
Rhoda Wilson
Junior Administrator (she/her)
After completing two years reading English literature at the University of Leeds Rhoda has taken time off to care for family. At University she developed strong written communication skills and a passion for environmental literature. In her down time she loves reading, painting and foraging in the suburban wilderness.
Ali Redford
Administrator / Director (she/they)
Ali Redford has worked in both the public and private sector as an Office Manager and Administrator, mainly in education, PR and marketing. In past lives, they also worked as an actor, teacher and events coordinator and now mainly focus on writing and marketing for BTC while doing as much gardening, painting and Sudoku as they possibly can.