Witney News - Funding for Citizens Advice Bureau

Funding for Citizens Advice Bureau

The District Council has agreed to grant £132,000 to West Oxfordshire Citizens Advice Bureau to help it to continue providing an information and advice service.

West Oxfordshire District Council will allocate £112,000 from its budget for 2009/10 towards the core work of West Oxfordshire CAB, which has offices based in Witney and Chipping Norton and operates across the District.

A further £20,000 has been set aside to fund the charity’s Rural Advice Project for another year. The funding will allow the CAB to continue a home-visiting service to residents in West Oxfordshire who otherwise would not be able to access its services. This includes older people, those with disabilities, residents in rural areas without transport and those with young families who find it difficult to get to one of West Oxfordshire CAB’s offices.

Cllr Jill Dunsmore, Cabinet Member for Communities, said: “The Citizens Advice Bureau provides a valuable service helping people to resolve their legal, money and other problems by providing free information and advice. With the economic downturn, their service is now more vital than ever. This significant funding from the Council will help to ensure that this support service can continue.”

The Council has allocated substantial funding in previous years to support the West Oxfordshire CAB’s core work. It has also given additional funding for other CAB initiatives such as the Rural Advice Project. In August last year, the Council gave £25,000 from its Homelessness Grant towards housing and debt advice work and allocated £10,000 for the CAB to set up a court desk service at Banbury County Court to help West Oxfordshire residents who are in financial difficulty and in need of advice while attending court.

West Oxfordshire CAB Manager Barbara Shaw said: “We are extremely pleased and very grateful for the continued support of the District Council. Without this funding, we would be unable to continue providing this level of service. Last year, with the support of the Council, we were able to deal with over 15,000 enquiries and help West Oxfordshire residents to access a further £1 million in benefits to which they were entitled.”

West Oxfordshire CAB is a charity and is dependant on grants and fundraising to cover its costs. It has a workforce of professionally trained volunteers who give free, confidential, impartial advice and its service is available to everyone.

Offices are based at The Old Print House, Marlborough Lane, Witney, telephone 01993 705691, and High Street, Chipping Norton, telephone 01608 641367.