Official opening of new Citizens Advice office in Sudbury

Mayor, Sue Ayres cutting the ribbon.

Having worked at Sudbury Citizens Advice between 2003 and 2007 as an advisor and session supervisor, and as a Trustee for some years thereafter, I was very pleased to be invited to the opening of the new Citizens Advice headquarters yesterday lunchtime.

It was great to catch up some old friends and also to get to know some new people, including the Manager, Colleen.  The new offices are a great improvement: light and bright and with a lot more space for everyone.  The building has been named Keyse House in memory of the late Margarette Keyse who for many years worked as a volunteer administrator at the Bureau and who was tireless in her efforts to make all work like clockwork. Margarette died in 2013 and I wrote tribute to her HERE.

Trustee Chair, John Ashton

Belle View House may have had its attractions, but the accommodation previously occupied by the CAB in the building  was really not very comfortable.  It was cold in the winter, too hot in the summer and the facilities for those waiting to see an adviser were for many years really inadequate (although this did change when we were able to take on more space a few years ago).  I will never forget having to go down into the spider infested and damp cellars to find old files etc.  It was not a good experience.

The new offices can be found at the very beginning of Acton Lane, on the right just before you take the road up to the police station,.   Information about the services offered in Sudbury and opening times  can be found by clicking HERE.

It is good to see the bureau going from strength to strength.

New Reception area

CAB to run drop in sessions in Lavenham

Cally Boardman, our Local Area Co-ordinator has informed me that Sudbury and District Citizens Advice Bureau is to offer drop in sessions at Lavenham Village Hall between 9.30 and 12.30 on the second Wednesday of every month starting in August.

No appointment is needed.  The CAB can offer help on a wide range of issues including benefits and housing.

This will be particularly useful at present since due to moving from Belle Vue House, the Bureau has only restricted opening hours in Sudbury.

Sudbury CAB on the move

Belle Vue House

After over 30 years in Belle Vue House in Sudbury, Citizens' Advice, where I was involved for some years, is on the move.

The anticipated redevelopment of the Belle Vue site is probably to blame, and it seems that the Bureau has not been able to find a permanent home as yet.

With help from Babergh District Council (which always guaranteed to accommodate the Bureau in the event of changes at Belle Vue) the organisation is to move into temporary offices from 18th July.

The bureau advises clients as follows:

'During this interim period, our Chief Officer Colleen Sweeney, her staff and team of volunteers will all be working to achieve as full a service as possible, though inevitably there will be disruptions and a regrettable cessation of the drop-in service that we currently offer.  To reduce the impact of this, greater use will be made of our telephone support service.

We are asking people to telephone for advice or to arrange appointments on 01787 374671 between 10.00 am and 2.00 pm Monday to Friday

The temporary arrangements for appointments are as follows:

Monday and Friday each week from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm at the Job Centre Plus in Borehamgate. 

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 10.00 am to 2.00pm at South Suffolk Business Centre, Alexandra Road, Sudbury, CO10 2ZX. This will also be our temporary venue for Money Advice appointments on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Administration will be from offices in Sandringham Court, Sudbury.

Our telephone number 01787 374671 will remain the same, and details of our services will be regularly updated on our website www.sudburycab.org.uk.  The outreach service to Hadleigh will be unaffected'.

For emergency advice, the national AdviceLine should be called on 0300 330 1151.

 

A tribute to Margarette Keyes.

At lunchtime, in a snowstorm, I went to St Gregory's Church to attend a service to celebrate the life of Margarette Keyes,   Margarette worked for many years as an administrative volunteer at Sudbury Citizens Advice.

Margarette, who lived in Sudbury all her life,  was an amazing person for whom nothing was too much trouble.  She would happily undertake the most mundane tasks at the Bureau while being adept at taking complex minutes at Trustee meetings without any fuss (or mistakes.)  Before her so called retirement she worked for many years as assistant to the Headmaster of Sudbury Upper School, where she was much respected.

The number of organisations that Margarette supported locally was remarkable, as was her innate modesty about her activities.   I met several people who didn't even know that she worked at the CAB two afternoons a week. Similarly, some of her other activities were news to the many representatives from the Bureau who were present at the service this afternoon.

She will be much missed by many.people.

Dance for a good cause!

Sudbury's Fortnightly Tea Dancers are sponsoring a special Charity Tea Dance to raise funds for Sudbury CAB.

The event will be held at the Delphi Centre, Newton Road, Sudbury on Wednesday 22nd February between 2.00 p.m. and 4.14 p.m.  Admission is £3, to include draw tickets and refreshments.

Tickets are available on the door.

Volunteering, a way into work?

There is good deal in the media today about Government programmes to help young people who cannot find work.

In the course of meetings this week I have been discussing how, in a small way, two of the organisations with which I work in Sudbury are doing their bit in this area.

Gainsborough’s House has applied for, and received funding from the European Community to run a six month volunteer development scheme for the economically inactive.  This will involve some younger people, in addition to older people seeking to get back into work such as young mothers with children, and even pensioners.  Participants will learn about how the museum works and get practical experience as room stewards in the office and in the shop.  I understand from the organiser, Nick Winch, that the level of interest has been high.

The CAB has for a long time tried to attract young people as volunteers.  Often we train them and then they move on to paid work, sometimes within the CAB service.  This can be rather frustrating, but they do make a contribution while they are at the Bureau and it is gratifying when, having gained some confidence, they can move onwards and upwards.

Some people are cynical about such schemes and see them as exploitation. Of course since we are talking about volunteers no payment is involved. However, the people involved do get something to add to their CV, and it could be that that makes all the difference to that crucial job application.

Expansion at Sudbury CAB

To a meeting at the CAB this morning, which was held for the first time in the new meeting room.

Recent expansion into what was the old folks lunch club at Belle Vue House has meant that the CAB has doubled its capacity and now has six meeting rooms to accommodate advisers helping people with their problems. This is just as well because, thanks to the recession, the people seeking assistance is rising exponentially. Until now we have had to cope in something a little larger than a broom cupboard!

Photos of two of the new rooms, the advisers’ room and the training/meeting room are shown above.

It is a little worrying, as a trustee, that expansion has taken place at the very time that we are concerned about the security of our funding from local authorities. This type of contribution makes up by far the largest amount of our resources.

It would be an irony if, at the very time the Government is placing more emphasis on volunteers and the ‘Big Society’ to deliver services, we see a cut in our grants from Babergh and Suffolk County Council. I do hope that this will not happen. In Babergh’s case I know that councillors are very aware of the amount of support that the bureau gives to the residents of the District, rich and poor.

Sudbury CAB opens information kiosk at Babergh

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.

Sky dive postponed due to bad weather

To tie up a loose end, Gladys Nott's sky dive for Sudbury Citizens Advice, which was supposed to take place at the end of last week, was postponed due to bad weather.

Unfortunately Gladys did not get the message so she and her husband went down to Salisbury Plain anyway. They had an interesting time at Stonehenge!

No camera, so no pictures yet of Acton Exhibition

I hope tomorrow to go down to Acton Church to review the annual art exhibition that is currently taking place.

However, I am unable to take photos for the blog at present because I have lent my camera to Gladys Nott from Wickham St Paul. On Friday Gladys is planning to jump out of an aeroplane to mark the 70th anniversary of the Citizens Advice Service, and also to raise money for the Sudbury Bureau.

I hope to be able to post some shots of the jump, taken by Gladys' husband Cedric, after the event, but in the meantime if anyone feels moved to support Gladys, who is a long standing adviser at the Sudbury Bureau, please get in touch with me and I will tell you how to go about it.

In the meantime however pictures, and a review, of the Acton Art Show will have to wait for a few days.

The Art Exhibition continues in Acton Church every day between 11 am and 4 pm. It is always worth a visit.

Citizens Advice at Long Melford Street Fair

To Long Melford to participate, as a representative of Subury Citizens Advice, in the annual Street Fair

The volunteers at Citizens Advice in Sudbury may be good at giving advice but they are not very good at erecting Gazebos! The first construction, kindly lent by Muriel Levine, was after half an hour of wrestling with un-marked poles and dodgy fittings, discarded for a simpler model, purchased from Argos by forward thinking trustee, Helen.

Our problems were exacerbated by the fact that the afternoon was typical for an English July with heavy showers interspersed with lighter rain and sunshine. Nonetheless a good time was had by all during the period that I was on duty, although next time I think we do need to think up some more creative ways to attract the general public to our display. Extracting loose change from all those sheltering from the not infrequent storms is not going to contribute much towards office expansion.

Although not particularly financially rewarding, the effort was a good flag waving experience for the bureau. It was well worth doing and we have learnt a few lessons for the future.

The Street Fair as a whole was fantastic as can be seen from the photos. I am posting most of these separately to avoid technical hitches. Morris Dancers and mediaeval characters, plus a great marching band, contributed to a truly English scene. Without the rain it would not have been the same, and by the time I was going home even the skies were brightening up.

Help for families in Sudbury

A few weeks ago I was invited to have a coffee at Number Seventy Two by its leaders, Tim and Joy Ayrton, who live in Acton. Tim and Joy came to the Sudbury area some five years ago to be family and community workers and the Centre opened in the autumn of 2007 in response to the growing demands of their work.


Number Seventy Two, which can be found in North Street, Sudbury, is a family support centre, combined with a very pleasant coffee shop. You can just visit to have a coffee and a chat if you wish. If however you are faced with family difficulties of all sorts there are resources here to help you. In addition to a wide range of relevant publications there are people on hand who can offer practical help and counselling. Problems and issues addressed by the team include those related to marriage, parenting and bereavement. In addition, the Centre hosts parents’ discussion groups, and, more relevant than ever in these difficult economic times, offers budgeting advice and help with debt problems.
I was very impressed by the welcoming and relaxed atmosphere at Number Seventy Two. There is space for children to occupy themselves and comfortable chairs in a light and bright environment. A bit of a contrast with Sudbury CAB I’m afraid, and something we should be aspiring to in our forthcoming refurbishment!
The Centre has strong links to a number of churches in the Sudbury area, but their services are available to everyone regardless of religious persuasion. If you, or someone you know, has a problem related to the family, this is clearly a good place to seek help.