I spent yesterday attending an awayday for Trustees, staff and volunteers of the Citizens Advice Bureau in Sudbury.
Since I have been associated with the CAB it has managed to struggle along, helping an amazing number of people with their problems, in what must have once been the servants’ quarters (or something similar) of Belle Vue House, pictured above. It has actually been very difficult to operate effectively, given the need for confidentiality and privacy when advising people. Clients have had to wait in a very inadequate spot, and the Manager and her assistant work in the kitchen.
The sad closure of the old people’s lunch club in Belle Vue house at Christmas has presented the Bureau with the opportunity to take over additional space. At the same time a grant from Babergh District Council has enabled us to consider setting up outreach facilities in villages throughout the area.
These exciting opportunities, plus the uncertainties for the organisation engendered by the possibility of Local Government Reorganisation, kept us all engaged in intense conversation for several hours. The challenge now is to put the many good ideas raised into practice.
One subject that was much to the fore was our overdependence on funds from Local Government and the need to find other sources of income in these difficult times. In this connection one of the advisers, Gladys Nott, is going to jump ‘from a perfectly good aeroplane from up to 15000 feet’ in aid of the bureau in September.
If you appreciate the work that the Bureau does, and would like to support this fantastic effort you can donate on line at: www.bmycharity.com/sudburyCAB
