On Tuesday afternoon the Chairman of Babergh, Councillor Jennie Jenkins, cut the ribbon to open a 'self help' advice kiosk at Babergh's offices. This is the latest step in a long term partnership between Babergh and the Bureau.
The kiosk, which is supplied by Sudbury CAB, aims to help people who need information and who, for whatever reason, prefer not to make the trip to the Bureau at Belle Vue House. Many issues dealt with by advisors can be resolved by looking at the internet, but this is not always an option for people. According to research 30 percent of households have no internet access, and this facility should be particularly useful for them. Not every problem can be resolved in this way, but a client can often get a long away and at least receive some sort of suggestion regarding the next step.
The kiosk is particularly useful because it offers access to sites that have been chosen because they offer reliable and safe sources of information. It can be dangerous to go on line to resolve problems, particularly those related to money matters and debt, since many websites are commercial operations masquerading as information sites.
I went along in two capacities really. Firstly I have been working with Bob Southgate of Babergh, who is pictured third from the right in the picture above, to try to improve access to Babergh's services through the internet, and the kiosk certainly ticks a number of boxes in this respect.
Secondly I am a Director/Trustee of the Sudbury CAB and we are anxious to disseminate our services beyond the bureau in Sudbury and into the rest of the District.
In addition to Bob, the picture above shows a number of other Babergh officers who have been instrumental in organising the installation, including Mike Hammond, Deputy Chief executive of Babergh, (second from the left), Jennie Jenkins (seated at the terminal), the Chairman and Manager of the CAB, Jeremy Osborne and Ann Furlonger (standing immediately behind Jennie) and John Sayers and Nigel Bennett who are Suffolk County Council and Babergh's Trustee representatives on the CAB Board.
