Extra hours for CAB
News article
Extra hours
Fylde Citizens’ Advice Bureau has recently signed a service level agreement with Fylde Council and in 2010/11 the council has pledged approximately £57,000 to the CAB and also provides subsidised office accommodation for the CAB’s main office on Moor Street, Kirkham.
This funding from the council means that the CAB’s four staff, 20 trained advisors and other staff currently being trained can offer free, independent, confidential and impartial advice for Fylde residents for five days (9am to 4pm) per week.
From this month (July), staff and volunteers will also open for one evening session and one weekend session – thanks to a further £7,100 received from Fylde Local Strategic Partnership and a Lancashire Local Gateway grant.
Staff and volunteers also plan to add outreach sessions every Tuesday morning, with appointments being made through Age Concern in St George’s Road. The extra cash means that CAB members are also investigating running other outreach sessions in other parts of Fylde.
Kim Cook, CAB manager, said: “Access to reliable, high-quality, free advice has never been more important than it is during these hard economic times.
“People are insecure in their jobs and many are really struggling to make ends meet. This extra money is a great vote of confidence in Fylde CAB and welcome recognition of the work of our staff.”
Councillor Karen Buckley, Fylde Council Cabinet member for Partnerships and Community Engagement, said: “We all know people who are finding things very hard at the moment.
“Many people in Fylde are asset-rich but cash-poor. They have often built up debts which were fine when the economic outlook was rosy. Some are now in terrible trouble.
“The CAB in Fylde is helping people with over £1m of debt every month. CAB helpers say they need to open extra hours and I can think of few better ways that the council can help people than by supporting the CAB.”
Fylde CAB is one of 450 bureaux throughout the country. Each bureau is a separate charity and relies upon local funding to keep its doors open.
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