AFTER years of struggling to find a location in Westbury, the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has established itself well since opening in the town in July 2010.
The branch, which works from the downstairs offices in the Laverton on Wednesday mornings, saw 227 people in their first year. The highest level of enquiries are regarding benefits, closely followed by issues with debt.
Sarah Cardy, chief executive of Citizen’s Advice Wiltshire, explained, “The branch is being well used. The highest level of enquiries have been around benefit issues – that’s 34%. The next highest is debt at 30%. Another one is employment enquiries, which are higher in Westbury than in other areas. Overall in Wiltshire we find debt is the highest, and then benefits second, but in Westbury it’s different.”
The branch came as a welcome addition to Westbury last year, after the last branch in the library closed down over 10 years previously. Sarah explained, “We always wanted to have a service in Westbury, but there was an issue with finding suitable premises. We’re only there one day a week, but we need a reasonable amount of space for confidentiality, and it needed to be accessible.
“The town council has always been really supportive of us providing a service so when they were developing the Laverton that was an ideal opportunity.” The town council offers the premises at the Laverton free of charge, and has also given a grant to the CAB.
Like many other organisations, the CAB is facing the pressure of funding cuts. Sarah said, “It’s a difficult time, we’ve had a significant amount of money cut. What we’re trying to do is keep the front line services open. The future is that there are changes but equally opportunities.”
The Citizens Advice Bureau offers advice and information on a range of topics including debt, benefits, employment, and housing. The Westbury branch is open at the Laverton from 10am-1pm on Wednesdays.
Many of the services are run by volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering, please get in contact with the CAB via www.cabwiltshire.org.uk
