The Citizens Advice service is operating in an increasingly challenging environment and must adapt to be able to continue helping people effectively.
We can’t go ahead with the following projects without securing the necessary funding.
Increasing access to advice
"It is so distressing to see the queues for our services every morning and know that you don’t have the in-house resources to offer help to everyone who needs it."
CAB adviser, South West
- Demand for our services exceeds our ability to meet demand.
- For every person who receives advice from a bureau there is another person who cannot get an appointment.
We want to offer advice through new channels such as telephone, internet and interactive advice kiosks. We need your help to explore all possible options and reduce the queues outside local CAB offices.
Specific initiatives requiring funding include:
- further development of our award-winning online advice service
 www.adviceguide.org.uk
- extending our email advice centre
- more outreach work
- establishing telephone call centres
- a network of public access advice kiosks
Tackling discrimination
"The anxiety of the debts and the stress was bringing on my angina. I felt like I was drowning. It was only when we saw the judge in court that I realised how much the CAB had done on my behalf."
Veejay, a client Citizens Advice helped with a discrimination case
- Every year Citizens Advice Bureaux deal with over thousands of advice issues related to discrimination.
- We know that the majority of victims of discrimination take no action, and this is at least partly because they don't have access to good advice.
Citizens Advice is committed to supporting people from every walk of life who have experienced discrimination. We believe that our position at the heart of the community means we are well-placed to increase our capacity to provide discrimination advice, working in partnership with others.
Your support means we will be able to reach out to people who wouldn't otherwise seek help, and offer them the high quality advice and support needed to resolve discrimination issues successfully.
Overcoming fuel poverty
- 4.5 million people already live in fuel poverty (this means more than 10% of available income is spent on gas and electricity).
- With mounting domestic energy costs forecast for coming years, an increasing number of families will be hit financially and come under unbearable pressure.
Citizens Advice is uniquely placed to assist people with fuel poverty problems. We would like to develop a strategic national programme, which could include; a specialist fuel poverty training package for advisors; the employment of second-tier specialists and a grass-roots programme to encourage best practice across the network.
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