Not Sure? Ask the CAB!

Not Sure? Ask the CAB!

The Citizens Advice Bureau is celebrating the work of it’s more than 2,400 volunteers, as part of its Awareness Week, this week 17 – 23 March. Chief Executive Kerry Dalton says that these volunteers do a fantastic job of supporting their communities with information and assistance about a huge range of issues. Over the last year these volunteers helped with over 500,000 enquiries across the country, and spent over 97,000 hours directly assisting clients face to face or over the phone.

Ms Dalton says that on any given day a volunteer working their shift might be approached about any question under the sun – from problems with their landlord, disputes about employment or issues with faulty goods. The ability of CAB volunteers to help the client untangle knotty issues and address each individual strand separately is a skill that comes from in depth training and ongoing support.

“Citizens Advice Bureau volunteers have access to a wealth of information resources including a referral database with over 30,000 organisations listed. So if we don’t have the answer we will be able to point you to someone that does” said Ms Dalton.

Ms Dalton says that although there were over 1.2 million visits to the CAB website last year, the face-to-face service is continues to be at the heart of the CAB service. “Working with people face to face is one of the great strengths of the Citizens Advice Bureau and a source of real satisfaction for Citizens Advice Bureau volunteers. It is becoming more of a rarity these days to be able to access help and advice from real people in your own community.”

CABs around the country are using Awareness Week to highlight how to deal with disputes. Ms Dalton says that “lots of people aren’t aware of what to do to complain effectively , or aren’t sure if there’s a specific complaints body they can go to if they aren’t able to sort things out with the other party.”

“We can help people sort through their rights and options, all they need to do is visit or call their local CAB”

ENDS

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