North-East News
Calls to advice service soaring
8:00am Thursday 2nd September 2010
INQUIRIES to a charity which helps with debt and benefit problems have increased by 60 per cent since the start of the economic downturn, figures have revealed.
Darlington Citizens’ Advice Bureau has seen calls increase from 12,348 in June 2007-June 2008 to 19,751 in the same period from 2009 to this year.
The steep rise has led the charity to take on more volunteers than ever before, with between five and ten people committing six to eight hours a week, to help the charity to cope with the volume of cases.
Charity chairman Mike Hill said although the bureau had been fortunate to gain extra funding from NHS Darlington, formerly the primary care trust, and the Big Lottery Fund, he was concerned about future funding because of the public sector squeeze.
“The money spent on the bureau in the borough is repaid many times over in money saved,” he said.
“For example, if we prevent someone from getting their home repossessed, not only is this better for the individual, but the local authority does not have to find them accommodation.
“If we could reach more people, we would save more money. We believe there is about £25m of unclaimed welfare benefit in Darlington every year. If people were claiming this, it would boost the local economy by four per cent.
“It is a classic case of spending to save. Cutting funding to the bureau would be a false economy.”
The bureau, which is part of the national charity, helps people with problems ranging from debt, welfare and housing to bullying and consumer issues.
He also said the bureau, which has 25 paid staff and about 45 unpaid workers, was recruiting more volunteers.
“Volunteering as an adviser is a big commitment, as it takes six months’ training, but is very rewarding,” he added.
Anyone who is interested in volunteering is asked to call 01325-256999.