Fiona Bruce MP praises the work of Cheshire East Citizens Advice Bureau
Fiona Bruce MP recently visited Cheshire East Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to discuss, with staff and volunteers, their important work and hear of the latest challenges that people are turning to the CAB for help over.
The CAB is a privately funded charity and not, as many people believe, a public body and so rely on donations to keep providing their service. A service which has been largely taken for granted recently due to its 73 year history.
Jill Hamilton-Smith, Contract Services Manager, who has worked for the Citizens Advice Bureau for 13 years, said “The CAB has the skills to provide help for local people, but financial back up is needed.”
The CAB recently secured funding for the remainder of this year but need to ensure financial security for the future. Anyone can help by going to their website http://www.cecab.org.uk/ and donating, or donating via text, or good old fashioned post to any of their offices.
Paul Bates, a CAB Board Trustee, outlined some of the key issues that service users are facing when they come to the Bureau such as young people, under 18, struggling with mobile phone contracts they are too young to have, debt caused by use of store and credit cards and crucially the issue of payday loans which often lend easily but charge very high interest rates, catching people out.
The volunteers feel that there needs to be better financial education in schools, something that Fiona Bruce agrees with having spoken on this in Parliament a number of times and been a member of the Parliamentary inquiry into Financial Education in schools, producing a report that was presented to the Prime Minister on this very issue.
Fiona Bruce said of her visit, “I am hugely impressed by the professionalism and care demonstrated by everyone at the Citizens Advice Bureau, which is an invaluable source of help for people who often feel they have nowhere else to turn. I commend this organisation for their sterling and dedicated work and enjoyed my visit with the friendly yet professional atmosphere there.”
