Take a look at the vital role played by Bridport Citizens Advice Bureau

The bureau helped her when no one else did – and she’s just one of thousands of people in west Dorset that has been helped by the service.

AMONGST all the cuts and cost-saving up and down the country, Bridport Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) is the one service in Bridport that hasn’t had any cuts from the council funds it gets. It helps the most vulnerable in the community – for free, and on a volunteer basis.

Last year, 74 volunteers and support staff helped deliver work worth £350,000 to the area, for free.

Run heavily by volunteers, the bureau is open five days a week for the public to drop in and it’s holding its next training drive for volunteers this month on October 18.

I went behind the scenes of the independent charity to meet trustee Bryan Brown and deputy manager Martin Wood to learn more about the vital role the bureau plays in the community to help anyone who walks through its doors.

Bryan Brown has been a trustee of CAB for the past three years.

There’s a long nation-wide history to Citizens Advice, and member organisations giving free and impartial advice.

Bryan said: “Going back even before my time, it started just before the Second World War. It was felt there needed to be a place people could go and get advice. The main problems that developed during the war were debt.

ADVICE: Bryan Brown has been a trustee at Bridport CAB for three years

“It was staffed almost entirely by volunteers and it has remained a volunteer based service.

“We have about 70 volunteers and nine paid staff all of whom are part-time.

“Each CAB is an independent organisation. There is a national structure, but it’s a member organisation. Each of the CABs has developed as a local charity.”

Martin Wood works at the CAB three days a week as the deputy manager, though he said in reality, he and the manager are at the bureau every day of the week because there’s always so much to do.

Martin said: “I’m effectively responsible for the quality of advice delivered to the clients.”

The CAB is open 10am until 3pm and it runs two outreach events in Lyme Regis and Beaminster each week.

Central government funding, council funding and raised money and donations helps the bureau to run.

Bryan said: “It’s a tight ship. It costs just over £100,000 to run. Half the funding comes from West Dorset District Council which is very supportive of the work that we do.

“We are one of the only organisations that has not had a cut.”

Bryan said: “We have to pay rent for the building and all the usual overheads.”

“We get support from local parish councils who give donations, and grants from charities and companies and Bridport and Lyme Regis Town Council.

“Then we have project based funding. For example, Wessex Water give us funds for people who have problems with their water supplies.”

It’s the trustees who ensure that everything stacks up financially for the charity. Bryan said the Chairman of the Trustees, Roy Tarsnane, has made a vital contribution to the work of the bureau over recent years.

In turn it means the independent charity can exist to help others meet their own bills.

Martin said: “The average we save clients is £230 on bills. The classic example is people who have been with the same supplier for years.”

39 per cent of clients are long term sick or disabled and 26 per cent are aged 65 or over.

Nearly half of the clients consult CAB about a benefit or debt problem.

The top five advice categories of issues people visit the bureau with are benefits, debt, housing, family and employment.

Bryan said: “The principle of the bureau is people being able to come through the door freely which is a hard thing in itself.

“We get an enormous amount of enquiries. Last year, we had 2666 clients and over 5000 different issues just in west Dorset.

“That’s a substantial amount of people coming through our door.”

Martin said: “It’s for all ages and we have no discrimination.”

All client information remains confidential, but Martin and Bryan were keen to share an example of a member of the community in need, and of the vital work CAB has done to help support members like her.

One client, in a rural location near Beaminster, was referred to the bureau by her GP following a relationship breakdown which left her without any income.

She was unable to work, was clinically depressed and had no close friends or family nearby.

The client was seen at the Beaminster outreach service which helped her with debt issues, landlord harassment, and a variety of benefits resulting in an additional annualised income of £16,000. With the help of the outreach service she was able to clear her debts and remain in her home.

Martin said a lot of clients who visit the bureau are ‘people who have lost their job or stopped working and want to know what they are entitled to’.

He added the bureau has people come in with drug problems, relationship issues and people from all different backgrounds.

The team have food parcels sat in the office waiting to go out to the most vulnerable in the community.

Admin supervisor Carol Pearson has worked at Bridport CAB since it opened

Martin said: “Behind all the factual information we provide a lot of practical advice.

“The first step is common sense which a client may not have thought of.”

Volunteers have to go through a rigorous training process in order to give advice to the public and help.

Martin said the volunteers are from a whole host of different backgrounds.

He said: “There’s three people who have law degrees, lots of teachers and people with media and IT backgrounds.

“It’s quite an unusual area Bridport, it has a lot of people from outside west Dorset who come to retire and find they have some spare time, and a lot of people just want to give something back.”

Bryan said: “This is much more demanding than other volunteer jobs because we have training.”

Martin added: “There’s lots of homework!

“It’s all about making sure in all respects that the client is given the best information. The fundamental principle is it’s impartial.”

Martin got involved with the bureau after wanting a new challenge.

He said: “I just wanted to do something completely different. Also, from a personal point of view I know someone who had been helped in a huge way.”

Martin said it was a CAB that helped someone he knew when they had nowhere else to turn. It made him want to help.

Volunteer Kate Goldrick, from Lyme Regis, had a similar experience.

She said: “ I first encountered Citizens Advice as a client. Both my elderly parents had progressive degenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s and blood cancer, and we were at our wit’s end trying to decide how to care for them appropriately and manage their affairs.

“Citizens Advice helped us to understand our options and find a way forward.”

Kate said: “The clients come from all sectors of society with a wide range of issues, and, just as I was, they are usually extremely relieved to tackle their problems constructively in a supportive environment.

“The biggest reward comes from working with the public which is extremely enriching and a real privilege.”

Bridport Citizens Advice Bureau is open five days a week, Monday to Friday from 10am to 3pm. For more information on volunteering and helping others, visit bridportcab.org