JOHN Gordon performs a vital service for hundreds of readers of The Northern Echo wanting answers to their questions about state benefit entitlement.

The 61-year-old is better placed than most to answer such questions, having spent 35 years in the civil service, dealing in particular with benefits.

Originally from Ipswich, but now living in the West End of Newcastle, Mr Gordon started his career with the National Assistance Board, the forerunner of the Department of Social Security (DSS), in the Shepherd's Bush area of London.

He said: "London was the place to be in the 1960s. One of the ways to get there was to become a civil servant, so that's what I did. My first job was as a visiting officer going to people's houses to see them about their entitlement to financial assistance."

The last 12 years of his work in the DSS was spent as a regional information officer in the North-East.

He said: "The photograph of me they use for the For Your Benefit column was actually taken at an event I organised. The minister involved was late, and the photographer needed a picture, so I was it."

Mr Gordon has travelled all over the UK during his career, hosting benefits roadshows and radio phone-ins.

He said: "I had to learn all about the benefits system, and once you know how it works, you have to keep up to date with all the changes in legislation.

"A lot of the knowledge is in my head, but I still have to check that I am giving the correct information when I answer The Northern Echo readers' questions."

Mr Gordon left the DSS in 1997, with, as he puts it, "A head full of knowledge and no use to which to put it".

That was until he started writing the For Your Benefit column for The Northern Echo.

He now receives, on average, 20 letters a week. The ones that appear in the paper are just the tip of the iceberg.

"Anyone who encloses a stamped addressed envelope, will get a reply, even if the question doesn't appear in the paper," said Mr Gordon.

"Collating the column is not the time consuming part, because I only use, on average, six letters every week.

"The time is taken researching the answers for all the people who write to me. For that I have to keep up to date with the benefits system.

"In the six years since I left the DSS, the benefits system has changed beyond all recognition. I have to keep up to date with those changes. I have my own little bibles, such as the Disability Rights Handbook, published by the Disability Alliance."

So why does he continue to work so hard?

"I'm giving something back. My working life was spent in the DSS, where I learnt a lot about how the system works. That has given me the opportunity to help people who don't have my inside knowledge. There are many people out there, particularly readers of The Northern Echo, who can benefit from the information I have locked in my head.

"The extra benefits I have helped people to claim, range from as little as 50p a week to £70 a week. On average, I manage to boost people's entitlement to benefits by £10 a week. That's £520 a year, and several thousand pounds over the years to come."

He added: "Since I have been doing the column, I have put, on average, £1m back into the pockets of The Northern Echo's readers every year, and that figure is rising.

"Thirty years ago, when I was walking around Shepherd's Bush with my briefcase, meeting one potential claimant after another, I managed to increase some people's income by as much as 50 per cent. That really changed their lives."

There is no sign of things letting up. With rising council taxes and more generous rules for older carers, there will soon be more people able to claim benefits than ever before.

Mr Gordon said: "For instance, the new pension Credit, which comes into force in October, should mean a lot more money for a lot more pensioners as long as they claim it. What the success of For Your Benefit shows is that people don't know where to go for advice, or feel they won't be entitled to it anyway. Then they read the column, and see a letter from someone in similar circumstances, and they realise they can claim.

"There has never been a greater need for simplified information about the complicated benefit rules, and that is what I try to provide."

l John Gordon can be contacted by writing to: For Your Benenfit, PO Box 14, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF