Simon Ellington has been our Chief Executive Officer since Citizens Advice Caerphilly Blaenau Gwent was born in 2000. Under his leadership, the team has grown from a handful of paid staff and volunteers to a paid and unpaid team of more than 200, delivering advice and support face to face, by telephone, email and video.

The past two decades have seen us grow and Simon now oversees the Bargoed, Brynmawr and Risca offices, the Caerphilly Contact Centre and outreach services.

He is expertly supported by the Senior Management Team.

Jane Waters is Resources Manager. Jane initially joined as a finance officer almost 20 years ago. As she watched our organisation grow from being a very small paper-based charity to where we are now, she was developing her skills and experience and now oversees the administration and human resources departments.

Lisa McLain is our Head of Digital Operations. She is the driving force behind our Caerphilly Contact Centre. She joined us more than a decade ago as a debt adviser in the Bargoed office. When we opened our Contact Centre, Lisa took charge of the services we deliver throughout Wales and England. More than 150 staff work with Lisa to deliver the Adviceline, Consumer, specialist debt advice helpline and the Witness Service. 

Supporting our Senior Management Team are four Advice Service Managers.

Pam Thomas oversees the Help to Claim and Energy teams. She too began her life as a volunteer more than a decade ago. Pam initially joined us as a volunteer adviser at our Bargoed office in 2008. By 2009 she had taken advantage of the comprehensive training programme we offer and began to supervise the debt advisers. As the services we delivered grew, Pam became our first ever Advice Service Manager. She has helped us grow and develop services with and on behalf of partners, creating a need to expand the management team. 

Oliver Craner joined us from Citizens Advice Cardiff and Vale in 2019 as an Advice Service Manager. Oliver is responsible for making sure that the outreach and the generalist advice services run smoothly and efficiently. These services are often the first point of call for those that we help. If our generalist adviser cannot help, they will refer to our more specialist services. More recently, Oliver has taken forward our campaign and research agenda.

Keith Thorne is our Debt Services Manager. He also joined us in 2019, after honing his skills and experience at debt charity Step Change. Keith has responsibility for the smooth running of a number of financial support projects. His team works with some of the most vulnerable people in the communities, offering debt advice and financial capability support to help educate and put people on the right paths for the future. 

Lucy Williams is our Advice Service Manager for several of our specialist projects. As a non-practising solicitor, she initially worked with us around 15 years ago, gaining valuable skills and knowledge which she went on to use at a local high street solictors practice. Her journey has come full circle, with Lucy re-joining us in 2021, initially as our Litigant in Person Support Strategy (LiPSS) lead, which supports people appealing against benefit decisions at First Tier Tribunals, before taking up the Advice Service Manager role for special projects at the end of 2021.