I am a member of the Rural Citizens Advice Bureau and have been for 7 years.
I attend their meetings and they make me very welcome for my input and support.
(I am not paid and I DO NOT claim any expenses)
Mission Statement :- The Citizens Advice Service provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone, on their rights and responsibilities. It values diversity, promotes equality and challenges discrimination.
Mrs J Dorroch Treasurer & Acting CEO Nick Blencowe
Dr Trevor Evans Chairman
I was one of only 4 members attending the AGM and there were no representatives from Whittlesey or Fenland Councils, who financially support the Rural CAB.
The Rural CAB has an excellent website, which contains a vast array of self help information.
Besides only a few ‘paid’ full time employees – the group consists of 113 volunteers including members and trustees – who collectively contributed approximately 44,000 hours of work to the local community.
Unfortunately during the financial year the Charity (CAB) had substantial deficit of some £80,000 which has had a significant impact on its reserve holdings.
Needless to say that Dr B Dungarwall (CEO to 25/09/18) has resigned her role.
Whittlesey Town Council makes a contribution to The Rural CAB and this is reviewed every year. The CAB attend Whittlesey Library/Learning Centre every Friday and an appointment system is in place on a Friday morning at the reception desk.
Recently the Rural CAB have been attending The Eastrea Centre on a monthly basis, this is for a limited time only.
The CAB and all its volunteers carry out a fantiastic job in supporting local people and is as previously stated ‘free’ to us – they are under enormous pressure with the amount of cases they deal with and one of the biggest to hit them is the introduction of Universal Credit.
Fortunately there will be Central Government funding to help nationally all CAB’s give support and advice.
Visit Rural CAB Website for many resources :- http://www.citizensadviceruralcambs.org.uk
