Citizens Advice East Berkshire Celebrates the Women Powering Its Service – Past and Present
This International Women’s Day (Sunday 8 March), Citizens Advice East Berkshire (CAEB) is proud to celebrate the extraordinary women who have shaped Citizens Advice throughout its history and those who continue to lead it today. From the pioneering women who helped establish the service more than 85 years ago to the dedicated women guiding our advice work across the region, their impact has been profound and enduring.
Women have influenced Citizens Advice since its earliest beginnings. Dorothy Keeling was involved in setting up the first advice service in Liverpool, marking the start of a nationwide advice movement rooted in community support and social justice. Citizens Advice Bureaux opened across 200 locations the day after the Second World War was declared in 1939. In the early years – volunteers, many of whom were women, assisted people with issues such as rationing, evacuation, homelessness and reconnecting families separated by the conflict. During the Blitz, Dorothy went out and gave advice on the streets, in shelters and rest centres. Her tireless dedication helped shape a service built on compassion, fairness and resilience.
Today, that legacy lives on. At CAEB, nearly 80% of our volunteers and staff are women, demonstrating daily the same empathy and impartiality that has defined Citizens Advice for decades. They support people through complex challenges ranging from debt and housing to employment and benefits rights, ensuring no one in our community faces their problems alone.
Leadership by women remains a defining feature of Citizens Advice locally. Across the region, four Citizens Advice services – East Berkshire, West Berkshire, Reading and Wokingham – are all led by female Chief Executive Officers. Their shared commitment ensures that local residents receive high-quality, free support when they need it most.
Women have been at the heart of Citizens Advice since the very beginning, and today their contribution is stronger than ever,” said Nicola Miller, CEO at CAEB. “We are immensely proud that our own service and our neighbouring services across the region, are guided by inspiring female leaders and volunteers whose passion for fairness and equality mirrors the values embedded in Citizens Advice history.
At Citizens Advice East Berkshire we celebrate diversity and challenge discrimination to make a positive difference for people living in our local community. Last year we helped 6,321 people, of whom 57% identified as women. 41% of those women we supported in 2025 had a disability or long-term health condition, with mental health presenting as the biggest issue. We campaign to remove barriers to support and ensure that our advice services are inclusive and accessible to all.
This International Women’s Day, we honour every woman – past and present – who has shaped our service, from the wartime volunteers who helped Britain navigate crisis, to the women contributing to our services today. Their dedication ensures the service remains a trusted place where people can seek help, find clarity and gain the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, whatever their problem.