Citizens Advice celebrates 80th Birthday!

Citizens Advice celebrated 80 years of service across England and Wales on 4 September 2019. The charity was formed at the onset of World War II. It originally helped people deal with the impacts of war, such as rationing, evacuation and losing their home in the Blitz. In its 80 years of service, the organisation has helped the British public find a way forward with a wide range of problems.

Uttlesford Citizens Advice opened the doors of its first permanent office in Church Street in 1983.  Since then we have expanded to offer 75 face to face generalist and money advice appointments every week across offices and outreach locations in Saffron Walden, Great Dunmow, Stansted and Thaxted, plus a home visit service to help people who are housebound (as a result of disability or frailty) to access benefit and community support advice.

Many of our clients are dealing with serious life changing circumstances, such as bereavement, job loss, family separation or the loss of a home and our team of highly trained volunteer advisers are aware that one problem can very often lead to another. We therefore aim to work with clients to prevent problems from escalating and help them to deal with a sudden change in their circumstances.

Our Chief Officer, Kate Robson, said:

“As a member bureau of the national network of Citizens Advice, we are incredibly proud to mark 80 years of providing free, independent and confidential advice for people across England and Wales.  We would like to invite all our supporters to help us celebrate this milestone at our AGM in Saffron Walden Town Hall on Monday 25th November, so please save the date!

In particular, I would like to say a massive thank you to all our volunteers and staff, both past and present, who work so hard to support our clients and help them to find the knowledge and confidence they need to move forward, whoever they are and whatever their problem.”

If you believe in social justice and have some spare time to give, click here to find out more about training as a volunteer adviser.