Citizens Lifeline

Fortunately most people reading this will never need to consult the local Citizens Advice services. But in the course of 2017, over 5000 people did, and many of them more than once. And for those people it was a lifeline: a way of helping them manage often in desperate times. For me it is good to know that CA is there for all those people and it's a comfort to know that the advice would be there if I ever needed it. So it was a pleasure to attend the AGM of the service last week in Winslow and support their work.

Below are some pics from the pages of briefing that documents the impact of the service. Effectively it is its annual report. It makes for moving reading. However on the other hand, it was also reported at the AGM that the service made a loss of over £25k last year, a financial position which is unsustainable. More money has to be found for the service because for sure the needs for the advice are mounting.

Put in simple terms, many of the authorities who have traditionally given money to help pay for the CA services, have cut back on their grants. Money to fill to these gaps is becoming harder and harder to obtain as many other charities are chasing this money too. It is not looking rosy.

All this means that I am most glad to have made BACAB, the local charity that raises money for the local CA (especially its home visiting service), one of the three I am supporting during my second Mayoral year. So if you like to help the local CA, you can donate to the Mayor's Charities (see the panel next to this blog >>>), or direct to BACAB (https://bacab.org.uk/donate/) or direct to the CA (http://www.aylesburyvaleadvice.org.uk/fundraising/)