The new manager of the Bridport Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has issued an urgent call for more volunteers in his first few months of the post.

In an interview with The News, Rovarn Wickremasinghe – who has worked for the CAB for 20 years – revealed that the bureau needs to double its current volunteer quota to be able to continue the work it does.

Rovarn’s CAB career began in Manchester where he worked as a volunteer himself, and since then he has worked in an assortment of roles including a welfare benefits adviser and a Macmillan project caseworker in Taunton.

His appointment as manager follows the departure of previous manager Martin Paley, who left in September to retire following eight and a half years in the post.

Bryan Brown is also an active trustee.

Rovarn told The News that he aims to tackle three priority issues including volunteer recruitment, the quality of advice given and the possible expansion of the CAB outreach to Beaminster.

Any new volunteers from Beaminster would also be very beneficial, Rovarn said.

He added: “We currently have a team of 40 volunteer advisors but our ideal structure would be to double that and have 80 volunteers by this time next year.

“There is a lot of demand for the service; the simple fact is we have a talented volunteer pool but we simply do not have enough of them.”

The Bridport CAB is a charitable organisation reliant on grants from the district, county, and parish councils – and Rovarn admitted that funding is another issue.

The CAB is also looking to develop or expand its outreach services, which include a service in Lyme Regis on a Wednesday.

Currently, the CAB is working together with Wessex Water offering help to people struggling to pay their water bills and is also helping people find the correct energy tariff for them through their Energy Best Deal campaign running until March 2015.

The CAB will be holding an open morning from 10am on January 20, 2015, for people to come along and find out what the CAB does and what volunteer roles are available.

A training course will then begin for assessors and advisors in February.

CAB trustee Bryan Brown described the role of a CAB volunteer as challenging but worthwhile. He said: “Anybody with any sort of problem could walk through our doors and our volunteers could be faced with anything.”

To find out more about the CAB, visit bridportcab.org or call 01308 456594.

People looking for help can also call the Dorset advice line on 0344 245 1291.