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THE Wokingham Citizens Advice Bureau is continuing to experience unprecedented demand for its services amidst the cost of living crisis.
Data, released by the charity, shows a 59% increase in need for its services from July last year and it is expected to continue rising.
Industry experts, Cornwall Insight, is expecting the energy price cap to rise to £3,582 a year in October.
A further increase in January is predicted to exceed £4,200.
The higher estimate means the average household would be paying £355 a month, more than double the current cost of £164.
Jake Morrison, chief executive at the charity, fears the rise will compound an already significant problem across the borough.
He said: “We have people in our borough that just cannot make ends-meet.
“This situation is only going to get worse as fuel bills rise again in October.
“We recognise that there have been people in Wokingham borough living in poverty before this energy crisis, this only makes that situation much worse.”
Earlier this year the government provided support for all households in England with a rebate through their council tax.
Mr Morrison said the government did “the right thing” by providing support but is calling for more action as people” continue to struggle to heat their homes and provide essentials including food and clothing”.
“This crisis is far from over,” said Mr Morrison.
“The government must be ready to act again and it should be looking at what it can do to help people with the cost of living now.
“For example, huge backlogs in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments are hitting disabled people hard.
“And private companies also need to play their part. We’re still seeing age-old tricks like increasing prices for loyal customers, sneaking price hikes into the small-print of contracts, and putting barriers in the way of cancelling subscriptions.
“These are leaving many people trapped with unnecessarily high bills for essentials that they simply can’t afford.”
The government has also introduced more targeted support through a Household Support Fund, which Citizens Advice Wokingham and Wokingham United Charities are distributing on behalf of Wokingham Borough Council.
Since its launch in June, the charity has received 929 applications for the fund.
More than 55% of people applying for this emergency grant support have said they need it due to increased bills and cost of living, with 31% referencing low income.
This is one of many ways Citizens Advice are continuing to support residents across the borough.
Mr Morrison is still concerned the tools at the charity’s disposal will not be enough.
“There are only so many tools at our disposal,” said Mr Morrison.
“Whenever we support people with any form of hardship support such as foodbank vouchers or emergency grants, we’re looking at income maximisation – that’s ensuring people are getting all of the benefits that they’re entitled to, and our team tell me regularly that clients often are getting the right benefits.
“Looking at Debt support, we’ve had a 24% increase in the first 7 months of 2022 compared to the same time in 2021.
“This tells us that we’re supporting more people in debt, more people who are claiming everything they can be – but are unable to manage.”
Although demand for services are on the up, Mr Morrison insists the charity will always be there for people in need.
“We’ve supported people across Wokingham borough for over 45 years now with free advice, information and support,” he said.
“Our staff and volunteers are working flat out to help people, but there’s still a lot of people out there who find it difficult to get through to us. And we need to make sure they have somewhere to turn.
“We’re trying hard to find ways we can increase our capacity to help us meet increasing demand and make sure people have access to the support they need.
“We launched our volunteer adviser recruitment campaign just a few weeks ago, so that we can continue to support people with their money, debt, employment and housing problems throughout this challenging period.”
For more information, including on how to volunteer for the charity, visit: citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk
