Steve Barclay, MP for North East Cambridgeshire, joined guests at the new Fenland CAB premises last week to launch their Advicehub video-conferencing advice service. This innovative technology is designed to help more clients access specialist advice services without leaving their own communities. It will work by linking people from specially designed purpose-built Advicehub desktop touch-screen kiosks to professional advisers based anywhere in the county. There are currently nine Advicehub kiosks installed in community locations around Fenland.
After witnessing the first remote interview trialled at the event, he said, “The important work done by the CAB in supporting residents in times of difficulty is vital. By advising people early on with problems like debt, it can save further difficulties from occurring and it provides excellent value for money for communities – both economic and social – by helping people to get their lives back on track.”.
Fenland CAB was also celebrating its move into new premises at 9 Church Mews in Wisbech – an airy and pleasant space for clients, volunteers and staff of the Bureau. Beverley Howard, Chief Officer at Fenland CAB, said, “We are really pleased that we can now offer a welcoming environment for our increasing number of clients. Last year we answered over 23,000 enquiries from residents, with the main areas of concern being debt, benefits and employment. Our new training facility will enable us to train more volunteers so we can help even more people in the forthcoming year.”.
Fenland CAB has been in existence for 32 years and as well as advising people on their legal rights and responsibilities, it also looks at ways to prevent problems, such as helping people to look at ways of making the most of their income and managing their finances.
To cope with the increasing demand for advice, the Bureau needs more volunteers to train in a variety of roles including reception, administration and IT. Beverley Howard said, “We are particularly looking for people who are able to commit to at least six hours a week to train as Gateway advisers. This is a great opportunity for people to make a real difference in the community and also to gain valuable skills.”. For more details, email manager@fenland.cabnet.org.uk or call the Volunteer Helpline on 08451 264 264
The Bureau offers an excellent training/meeting room for hire at reasonable rates – email manager@fenlandcabnet.org.uk for more details if you are looking for a venue for an event.
For more information about Advicehub kiosks, and to find your nearest location, see www.advicehub.org/advice/advicehub-locations
A copy of the latest Annual Review produced by Cambridge & District Citizens Advice Bureau is available now to download. Please click here to download.
Click here to download the fourth edition of our quarterly Advicehub Newsletter for professionals working in the advice sector. For regular updates, join our mailing list by signing up in the column on the right-hand side titled ‘Newsletter – join our mailing list here’.
Do you want to tell people about a project or service you run? Contact Kate Flannery on 01223 222697 or kate@advicehub.org.
Cambridgeshire initiative spearheads national consumer advice debate
Earlier this month, Advicehub, a Lottery funded initiative run by the CABs of Cambridgeshire working to provide greater access to advice for the county’s citizens, hosted a high level breakfast briefing in Cambridge to examine some of the issues facing the future of consumer advice.
Around 100 of the county’s senior players in charities, local authorities and businesses gathered at Murray Edwards College to hear a panel of experts give their views on the government’s proposed reforms to current institutional arrangements aiming to simplify the consumer landscape. The panel comprised: Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice; Dianne Jeffrey, Chair of Age UK; Leon Livermore, Chairman of The Trading Standards Institute; and was chaired by Alex Plant, an Executive Director of Cambridgeshire County Council and interim Strategic Director of the Greater Cambridgeshire Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership.
From April 2012, the Citizens Advice service will take over the work currently done by Consumer Direct – one of the first examples of public and voluntary sector organisations working in partnership. But will it improve the service to the consumer?
Alex Plant is enthused by this new partnership between Citizens Advice and Trading Standards. He said: “This is an important step on the way to finding the appropriate way to provide a better public service, looking after the specific needs of consumers to support economic growth, social inclusion and the development of well-functioning communities.”
The new service will be delivered through a variety of communications mechanisms, including face-to-face, email, online and also via a new in-depth general telephone service, ‘Adviceline Plus’. Anyone with complex problems in need of specialist consumer advice will be referred to partners, such as Trading Standards, as they are now. Gillian Guy said, “The changes to the consumer landscape herald an exciting time for consumers and Citizens Advice alike. By bringing together consumer advice and advocacy under the Citizens Advice wing, we’ll be able to campaign for and help more people than ever before. Consumer problems are already one of the top five issues that we advise on, and the last year saw us helping people with over 400,000 consumer problems, of which 6,500 were in Cambridgeshire.”.
Dr Livesey, Chairman of the Advicehub Partnership Forum, commented, “This is a good example of the partnership between the public and the voluntary sectors and how they have the opportunity to work together more efficiently and effectively in the best interests of consumers. This new alliance between Citizens Advice and Trading Standards is just the first step towards smarter sharing of resources and experiences at a time when there are going to be increasing demands for advice.”
Sawston Medical Centre held an Open Day for patients and the community on Saturday 8th October. Over 1,000 local people – and health care practitioners! -turned up to get their annual flu jabs and to learn more about the new healthy lifestyle initiatives provided by the medical centre. It was also a chance for people to try out the newly installed self-help advice kiosk, provided by Advicehub and funded by South Cambridgeshire District Council. Initiatives on offer at the Centre include:
• Walk for Health scheme
• CHIP (Community Health Improvement Programme) – a programme for overweight persons which encourages sensible lifestyle changes within a group setting. Weigh2Go – weight management and lifestyle changes on a one-to-one basis
• Fitness 4 Health – an exercise referral scheme to encourage regular exercise in an individually tailored programme
• Smoking Cessation – CAMQUIT will be running a new group programme in November
• Healthy Eating –Strength and Balance
Advisers from Cambridge CAB and local charity John Huntingdon’s were on hand to demonstrate the new Advicehub kiosk situated within the medical centre. The kiosk can provide a wealth of information on topics such as benefits, debt, employment, housing, local information and much more. Cambridge CAB runs an outreach service at John Huntingdon’s in Tannery Road every Wednesday and Friday from 9.30 am to 12.30pm These are drop-in sessions, so there’s no need to book, just turn up. John Huntingdon’s Charity has been giving support to the people of Sawston since the 16th century. Find out more about its fascinating history and how it is still helping local people at http://www.johnhuntingdon.org.uk/.
Advicehub is a Big Lottery funded project run by the four Citizen’s Advice Bureaux of Cambridgeshire and has over 40 organisations as members, working together to provide an improved service for anyone looking for advice. Find out more at www.advicehub.org.uk
Representatives from South Cambridgeshire District Council were also on hand to distribute their winter warmth packs which include information on independent living, heating your home, how to deal with doorstep vendors and other useful consumer advice.
