05/05/04 - Local Committee support Whitehaven's CAB

This week, Cumbria County Council’s Local Committee for Copeland agreed to allocate £7,300 to Whitehaven’s Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to help towards refurbishing the new CAB office on Tangier Street.

The CAB offers free, confidential, impartial and independent advice.  Every CAB is a registered charity reliant on volunteers.  They help solve problems which are central to people’s lives, including debt and consumer issues, benefits, housing, legal matters, employment and immigration.  Advisers can help fill out forms, write letters, negotiate with creditors and represent clients at court or tribunal.

Many CAB’s provide specialist advice, often in partnership with other agencies such as solicitors and the probation service.  As well as giving advice, the CAB service uses its bank of client evidence to find out where local and national services and policies should change.

County Councillor Simon Leyton, Vice Chair of the Local Committee says

“The Whitehaven CAB provides a wide range of services to the people of Copeland and has handled over 18000 enquiries from the public over the last 12 months.  In January this year, Whitehaven’s CAB moved premises from a cramped office on Duke Street to a more spacious office with disabled access on Tangier Street.  Part of the office has been refurbished however more money is needed to cover the cost of fitting out and equipping the premises.”