With the pandemic, the current cost of living crisis and the increase in energy prices Citizens Advice Cornwall is seeing even more people in need of their services. Last year the charity helped over 400 people in Camborne alone with over 2k issues. They helped to write-off debt worth a total of over £61k and gain income worth over £350k.
As a result the Cornish Charity is calling on the general public to help them raise funds to be able to support even more people across Cornwall including Camborne and surrounding areas.
The Charity has launched a Regular Giving campaign where potential donors can sign up for as little as £1 a month to help the charity to continue its work.
Citizens Advice Cornwall provides free, independent and confidential advice on a wide range of subjects for everyone in the community. Their vital services include advice on benefits, debt, housing, relationship issues, employment and redundancy, consumer, legal issues and more.
Community Fundraising Manager Tamsin Chapman-Gunner said: “We are only able to provide this service with the support of the general public and grant giving bodies whose donations enable us to be able to continue with the work that we do.
“As a Cornish Charity we rely heavily on people’s generosity and over the last few years that has become needed even more. We hope that this campaign will enable us to gain more support which in turn will help us to grow our services further.”
Anyone wishing to support the charity by a regular donation can do so by visiting the website https://citizensadvicecornwall.org.uk/support-us/ and downloading a sign up form or via just giving https://justgiving.com/campaign/regulargiving. You can even sign up by text just Text GIVER followed by your donation amount to 70580 to give that amount, for example GIVER5 to donate £5 – Texts will cost the donation amount plus one standard network rate message, and you’ll be opting into hearing more from us. If you would like to donate but don’t wish to hear more from us, please text GIVERNOINFO instead.
Citizens Advice Cornwall, Chief Executive, Gill Pipkin said: “As a charity facing huge demand on our services at present, our resources are extremely stretched. We want to help more people and can only do this with more funds. We are asking our community to support us with whatever can be spared so that those most in need can get help. Every pound you give us enables us to train and support advisers to be there and by giving to us regularly, we can plan and maintain our services more effectively.”
Your donation could help people like Donna, Donna said, “Your service has been a lifeline to me throughout this process. The work carried out by Emily on my witness statement was considerable; the advice given about how to complete documents and advice on content was invaluable. The lengths you have gone to help me acquire a barrister, however slim the chance, are immeasurable to me.
“The whole process has effectively brought me to my knees – there has been hurdle after hurdle to overcome and it is incessant. The fact that your service is available to people like me, who would otherwise be entirely on their own, is absolutely a lifeline.
“I wouldn’t have got this far, without your advice and services. I am utterly grateful for the part you and your team have played in the attempt to keep my children safe. You are all heroes to us, the downtrodden and cast aside.” (Name changed to protect identity)
It costs Citizens Advice Cornwall around £1.5m to run their services each year, a figure that is only set to rise as the call for their services increases. You can help support the charity by donating your time, making a financial donation – no matter how big or small or fundraising for them. £10 could buy a head set for an advisor, £25 could pay for an hour’s advice appointment, £50 could help fund a one to one training session on how to manage your bills, £150 could pay for our phone system for a month enabling us to talk to clients, £600 could pay for a laptop for one of our team, £1000 could pay for our Text service for clients for a year, £3000 could pay for full training for a specialist advisor
If you would like to find out about volunteering for us https://citizensadvicecornwall.org.uk/volunteer-with-us/
To find out more about Fundraising please email tamsin@citizensadvicecornwall.org.uk