Why You Should Support Your Local Citizens Advice
Our local Citizens Advice serves a community of 40,000 people. The service helps people to help themselves.
Recent research has shown that at least one in three people have a problem relating to a legal, debt or money issues; with housing, domestic violence, welfare benefits, debt and employment issues being the majority of the enquries.
Every month, Citizens Advice Buckinghamshire supports hundreds of people and families with problems affecting their lives.
In the centre of Buckingham, on Market Hill, is the local Citizens Advice Bureau. Each year, they help an amazing one quarter of local residents with advice – including on debt and benefits – which helps them get their lives back on track.
This office is the only place locally left to go for such help. All the benefits agencies are down in Aylesbury or over in Milton Keynes. As well as giving advice, the CAB sometimes has to give emergency support – the fare to Aylesbury or a coupon for the food bank.
In this rural area some clients cannot even make it in to see the CAB so a home visiting advice was set up over 10 years ago and trained advisers take their laptops out to find clients in the dignity of their own homes.
BACAB is the local charity dedicated to supporting this work. All our trustees come from in and around Buckingham and Winslow. We raise funds from local businesses and individuals. Each year we give around £25,000 to fund the home visiting service of the CAB.
The CAB receives no statutory government funding and actively seeks its own support through grants. Buckinghamshire Council gives a substantial grant as do the two town councils and other parishes and charities such as the Big Lottery Fund. BACAB weighs in with support from local individuals and businesses.
The Queen's Award
In 2011 the Buckingham, Winslow & District Citizens Advice was announced as one of 130 winners of The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the equivalent of an MBE for groups of volunteers who work for the good of their local community.
This prestigious UK national honour recognises the outstanding voluntary contributions and sets the benchmark for excellence on volunteering, with all work being judges to the highest standard.
