It was great to be at Wokingham Town Hall earlier this month for Wokingham Volunteer Centre’s Annual Volunteer Fair.
We had lots of people interested in attending one of our open days in February where people can take a behind the scenes look at what volunteering at Citizens Advice Wokingham is like.
If you would like to attend, please email volunteer@citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk and we will send you the details.
We have two intakes of training sessions starting in March, so sign up now.
Last week was Big Energy Saving Week.
We chose this as one of our three priority campaigns for this year. It is a national campaign encouraging people to follow a simple three-step process of ‘check, switch and save’.
Switching your tariff or supplier is normally the quickest and most effective way to bring your costs down but you can also modify your home and change your habits. Our team will be out and about encouraging as many people as possible to use our energy comparison tool to check for savings.
Our team had around 229 conversations with people in Woodley and Wokingham town centres, and we had a visit from Wokingham MP John Redwood.
Thank you for your response to my first column. In it, I reached out for stories as we celebrate Citizens Advice services 80th anniversary this year. We were delighted to hear from someone who was one of our original volunteers in 1977!
Locally, we really want to celebrate the past and present of our work that shapes lives across Wokingham.
Last week, I wrote to all GPs to highlight how our work can help them improve mental health for their patients.
At Citizens Advice our clients with mental health problems have a greater number of practical problems including; 62% more likely to need advice on threatened homelessness, three times as likely to be homeless due to repossession by a housing association, 61% more likely to need advice on accessing jobs than clients overall and 87% more likely to need advice following self-disconnection from their energy prepayment meter.
By providing an experienced adviser at the disposal of GPs for their patients, we can help people to deal with those practical problems that are impacting upon their health and wellbeing.
This week, we will be meeting with Cllr Julian McGhee-Sumner, leader of Wokingham Borough Council, to look at closer working relationships to support people even more.
We are looking forward to this and other partnership working across the borough.
If you are in need of some help and support, please contact us – we are here to help.
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: public@citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk
