IT was with great sadness that those of us involved in North Ayrshire Citizens Advice Service service received the news of its closure earlier this month. It is not the first service to close over the past few years and, sadly, I don't think it will be the last.
I was one of the last group of volunteers to be trained as an adviser and I have been involved since last May. During this time I was fortunate enough to be trained by both service staff and experienced volunteers. It was a privilege to work with all of these people, whose knowledge and expertise is vast. I learned so much from them as I observed them deal with the huge range of problems members of the public bring to the service. Some of these problems could only be dealt with at a Citizens Advice service. There are few facilities available to help people cope with application forms for benefits, writing letters to ask for reconsideration of decisions taken by the Department of Work and Pensions, and finding access to sources of funding when in dire need.
Many vulnerable people will suffer as a result of North Ayrshire Council’s decision to pull the type of funding they have provided in the past. Facilities may be available locally to help people in debt, but the service provided so much more, covering legal, consumer, benefits, work, family, housing and immigration advice. It is an impartial, non-judgmental organisation from which thousands of people in North Ayrshire have benefited. Citizens Advice is a charity which relies on donations and this is a time when all charities are struggling to compete for funds. To lose our major source of funding is a catastrophe and very short-sighted of the council. When times are tough more and more people need help and the very body that can provide this help, much of it on a voluntary basis, is now closed to them.
I hope that the dedicated staff and volunteers I have come to know will find other ways to share their knowledge to benefit others. Meantime, I feel sorry that the people of North Ayrshire have lost this facility.
Eleanor Ritchie,
14 Old Woodwynd Road, Kilwinning.
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