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 15 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 freelance welfare rights worker, advice session supervisor and trainer. He has worked with Citizens Advice, Benefits and Work, Pro Bono Community, and independent advice centres in Glasgow. Liam also works as a financial literacies tutor for the Workers’ Educational Association in Scotland. He has previously worked as a community-based arts and education practitioner, working with young people and adults, 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 nearly 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.
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 skateboarding, cycling, climbing and walking. She is a twitcher so generally loves being outdoors looking at nature.
Caroline Cook
Administrative Assistant (she/her)
Caroline has worked in office management for the past 4 years and prior to that, had a career in the music industry in music licensing. She is a keen organiser and enjoys being involved in local and charity events. In her spare time she enjoys exploring new places to walk with her children and travelling in Europe with her family.
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.