CAB AGM

On Friday 19th of June I had the pleasure of attending the Annual General Meeting of the Bury St Edmunds and District Citizens Advice Bureau. We regularly receive requests from the CAB and it was lovely to join with them, have a bite to eat and meet some familiar and some unfamiliar faces. The statistics reported were quite an eye opener - 7 out of the top 10 requests in 2008-2009 related to either debt or benefits; total debt dealt with amounted to over £2.5 million; 14,522 client contacts were made; for the first time they had more benefit enquiries than debt - a measure of the huge increase in Job Seekers Allowance and other means tested benefits queries they received as a result of the worsening economy. The majority of the people who work at CAB are voluntary, but they provide an invaluable service to the community as they seek to provide free, independent, confidential and impartial advice.