By Press Release
I have lived and worked on the Island most of my life and now I’m the chief officer for Citizens’ Advice IW, one of over 250 independent charities in the network of local Citizens’ Advice across England and Wales. I spend my days looking for ways to continue our work on the Island and ensuring what we do meets the needs of those calling us for assistance.
Most of you have heard of us. Since the very beginning, Citizens Advice has provided free, confidential, impartial, and independent advice. Nationally we started giving advice in 200 locations on September 4, 1939, the day after WWII started. But these services didn’t wait for people to find them – they ventured out into some of the areas worst affected by the Blitz to find those in need. They gave advice to whoever needed it on a range of issues including evacuation, what to do if they’d lost their home or how to get a new ration book.
Here on the Island, our charity started in 1964, when local stonemason, William Birch, took it upon himself to be the only volunteer running the new bureau. In his first month he dealt with 40 enquiries, including six complaints against door-to-door salesmen. The next month two more interviewers joined him and within four months a further five volunteers had been recruited.
There is a 1940 Ministry of Information film called ‘Ask CAB’, (find it on You Tube), that shows various members of the public struggling with rent, getting help for a new family and trying to complete complicated forms. The only ones we don’t deal with now are rationing or the problems having your own chickens might create!
Who would have thought though that in 2023 we would need to know when food banks are open or how to complete forms to get electricity bills paid so families can cook a meal? How we interact with Islanders has changed. Hardly anyone queues to see us now, instead they use freephone numbers, emails, or find out what is needed on our websites, where information you can trust is freely available.
We have a small army of advice first aiders across our Island, ready to signpost people to information that can stop a problem from becoming a crisis. Being part of a national network ensures all information is updated daily, so every adviser has the best information at their fingertips. Our strength in numbers also means we can alert government ministers (if they stay in post long enough), to problems our communities are facing. Among other things we have highlighted the injustice in a six-week wait for Universal Credit and loyalty penalties the insurance sector was loading onto customers who didn’t want to move company each year.
Last week flowers were dropped into Ryde Library for one of our advisers, one of many places we meet with Islanders, by a grateful lady after getting help. We often work in partnership with other organisations to solve problems for our clients. It’s rare for someone to bring us just one issue they are struggling with, so we hope to relieve as many pressures as possible. Well-placed questions may identify that a client with noisy neighbours may have money problems or health issues that we can help with too.
The Island’s Lord-Lieutenant, Susie Sheldon, recently mentioned in her Vectis View the remarkable contribution volunteers make on the Island. I want to add my thanks to everyone who comes into Citizens’ Advice or elsewhere to see clients or makes calls for us from their home, ensuring Islanders get the help they need.
All of us need a bit of support now and again… life’s complicated, we’re here to help.