Are you free every Tuesday or Thursday in March?
We will be training up new volunteers to be able to provide basic advice and information to our clients, teaching interview skills and using our systems. If you are looking for an opportunity to make a difference across Wokingham then do get in touch with us.
We will be looking to provide more services across the borough and also supporting people with Universal Credit, helping to claim and budget. If you are interested in signing up to one of these intakes please email [email protected] or call 0118 978 7258.
January was a busy month for us at Citizens Advice Wokingham – our offices in Wokingham and Woodley helped 305 people with 588 issues. Top issues included benefits and tax credits – particularly Employment Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment, debt – particularly council tax arrears and credit card debts and housing problems.
One of those cases we helped with was a person sleeping rough in Wokingham Town Centre.
They have been sleeping rough in a hidden away location and we worked with them throughout the week to encourage them to visit us.
Last Thursday as the icy cold weather started to come over Wokingham, we asked them to come in and at least have a cup of tea.
Working with Wokingham Borough Council we then sent them in a taxi to accommodation for a few days while we undertake some other work around their personal circumstances.
We are here for everyone – to help confirm your rights and options, to support you with your queries or help you at your most vulnerable – Citizens Advice Wokingham is your local charity. If you or someone you know needs our help, please reach out to us.
We also met with Wokingham Borough Council leader Cllr Julian McGhee-Sumner last week.
It was an introductory meeting as the new Chief Executive at Citizens Advice Wokingham and with Julian’s new position as leader.
We had a really productive conversation around the issues we see at our charity and explored more ways we can work closer together to ensure we can tackle some of those issues early on.
We are looking forward to developing that relationship.
Finally this week, we are going through our business and development planning ready for our Board of Trustees to set out strategy for the year ahead.
We are looking forward to talking more about this over the next couple of weeks – but one thing that stands out is the need for more funds.
We will be organising a fundraising quiz this year and hopefully some other events. But if your organisation/group can help support us in any other way, please do get in touch with me via [email protected] – we would love to chat!
In this colder weather one thing we really want to use is a van where we can place ourselves in locations across the borough and use the back of it as a converted interview room so that we can be even closer to our communities.
Jake Morrison is the new Chief Executive at Citizens Advice Wokingham
You can get help, information and advice from your local Citizens Advice or visit www.citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk or contact Citizens Advice Wokingham at Second Floor, Waterford House, Erfstadt Court, Wokingham RG40 2YF. Tel: 0300 330 1189. email: [email protected]
