East Hampshire CAB

The CAB has had a good year, despite a reduction in funding which has meant it was necessary to reduce our opening hours slightly in Whitehill & Bordon and Alton. Several new groups of volunteers have been training as advisers and Gateway Assessors (who are the first people clients meet when contacting the bureau). We have opened a fortnightly advice surgery at Bordon Garrison and are providing financial capability training and budgeting skills to new Army trainees as well.
Our telephone service, Adviceline, went through a difficult period initially, with clients finding it difficult to get through, and then being presented with a lengthy menu of options before they could speak to a real person. However, our parent organisation, Citizens Advice, has now changed their policy on this, and clients who call us on our 08444 111306 number (0300 3300650 when calling from a mobile phone) can now expect to be put through to someone directly, between 10am–4pm, Mondays to Fridays. Our face-to-face advice work continues alongside this for those who would prefer to speak to someone in person. All our advice is confidential, impartial and independent, and if we cannot answer your question directly, we can refer you to another organisation which can.

In the period from April 2010 to March 2011, we dealt with 250 different issues from the Headley area, the majority being about welfare benefits, but with large numbers also about debt, employment and housing. With the Government's proposed changes to benefits and the ongoing economic downturn, we expect this trend to continue next year.

As always we are looking for volunteers who are willing to give us one day a week of their time. There are opportunities to become a fully-fledged advisor, but we also need people for other roles, such as receptionists, administrators, and fundraisers. Working with the CAB is a great way to get back to work after sickness, redundancy, or time off to care for family, and offers an interesting, fulfilling avenue of work for people who are no longer formally employed.

Further information and an application form is available at www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/join-us.htm