New building opens!

The new Cambridge Citizens Advice Bureau opened its doors to the public for the first time on Monday 26^th July at 66 Devonshire Road, near Mill Road and the railway station.

 Impressive national and local support for CAB and Advicehub

The building was officially opened on 12^th July by Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England who said, “Citizens Advice Bureaux play a crucial role in our communities. The information and advice they provide can help to empower those in difficulty, enabling them to take control of their lives, building confidence and self esteem.

It is a great pleasure to open the CAB’s impressive new facilities in Cambridge. I wish all the staff and volunteers the best of luck for the important work they do, particularly in these times of economic difficulty”.

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank Of England

Nigel Brown OBE, the High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, who also officiated at the opening event, said, “I welcome this building as a great benefit to people in our community.  It will offer an innovative way for everyone to access high quality, confidential and free legal and general advice at times of difficulty.  The network of Advicehub touch-screen kiosks being installed at community locations across the county will also enable more people to find solutions more quickly, especially in remote rural areas like Fenland.”

• (L-R) Rachel Talbot, CEO of Cambridge & District Citizens Advice Bureau
• Nigel Brown OBE, High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire
• Dr David Livesey, Chair of Cambridge & District Citizens Advice Bureau

Facilities

The new building offers a greatly improved environment to clients visiting the Bureau, with eight interview rooms and three specialist casework areas, all fitted with up-to-date technology including soundmasking, PCs with proximity readers, and environmentally-controlled air cooling.  The spacious reception area offers two free public access PCs and an Advicehub self-help touch screen kiosk.  The CAB’s newly introduced gateway assessment procedure ensures that clients’ needs can be diagnosed more swiftly, and appointments with specialist advisers can be made on their behalf if necessary.

The first floor Advicehub area offers two meeting rooms for hire to outside organisations.  Both rooms are equipped with state of the art audio visual equipment, including e-whiteboards, wifi Broadband – and magnetic paint!  There is also space available for rent by other specialist advice agencies, who will work in partnership with CABs across the county to deliver a more streamlined service to clients.

Read more about Advicehub at www.advicehub.org

Opening times

The Bureau’s opening times are:  Drop-in sessions run from Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 1pm, no appointment  necessary.  On weekday afternoons the Bureau offers a phone advice service from 2pm to 4pm on 0844 848 7979.  E-mail advice is available through the website http://www.cambridgecab.org.uk, and the site also offers a wealth of information and signposting, so it’s worth looking at the site before visiting.

Photography: Warren Gunn