You will be ensuring we are still here, down the years to come, for your family, friends and others in your local community. Our advice services now are more in demand today than ever before - and as we move into the future that demand looks set to grow even further.
In the current difficult economic times, we are experiencing significant increases in people wanting our help and greatly appreciate the additional funding from Donations that will help us meet the increased demand for our services.
That's why Donations are so important to us.
Citizens Advice Bureaux have been around since 1939. Every Citizens Advice Bureau is a charity, reliant on the support of a wide range of funders including central and local government, charitable trusts, companies and individuals to provide its services for local communities. However, all the Bureaux face a challenge because our funding is unable to keep pace with the demands for our services.
Today, we have more than 27,000 volunteers, working in over 3,300 locations and helping to resolve over six million new problems every year. In fact 4 in every 10 households have used a bureau at some point. For thousands of people we are the only source of professional advice that is impartial, confidential and free, and available on issues ranging from claiming benefits to managing personal debt, housing problems to relationships, employment issues to legal advice.
The local bureaux in Cornwall are now merged to form CAB Cornwall which is also a charity, completely independent and also providing advice that is impartial, confidential and free. During the year ended 31 March 2009, operating from 10 main bureaux and 11 outreaches across the County, the CAB service in Cornwall was contacted by nearly 20,000 individual clients who raised over 63,000 issues.
None of us can predict what lies ahead. Often Life Changing events such as redundancy, the loss of a loved one, money difficulties, a relationship breakdown, ill health or disability, suddenly make ignoring them impossible and need sorting out.
CAB Cornwall is resolute in making sure that whatever problems people find themselves having to deal with, there is someone to listen and offer practical advice so that people don't feel alone and can manage their affairs.
Your Donation can help us achieve that aim.
There are two ways:
If you would like to talk to someone about making a donation please write, in the first instance, to the manager at your local CAB Cornwall office, their address can be found on the Office Finder page, or call in to the office.
Alternatively you can Make an Online Donation to either:Your Local Citizens Advice Bureau or to the UK wide Citizens Advice by visiting the main CAB website: www.citizensadvice.org.uk and typing in Donations in the Search box and following the link.
Whatever the amount of your Donation and Wherever it goes it will be put to good use, for example to buy much needed computers for use by our Advisers in the Bureaux, or laptops for home visits to allow vulnerable clients to access our service.
So Many Thanks in Advance, CAB Cornwall.