Citizens Advice Charnwood Reaches Out to the People of Syston

At Citizens Advice Charnwood we provide free and confidential help and advice on everyday problems, including benefits, debt, employment issues, housing, consumer rights, family and personal issues and more.
Since the pandemic we have been helping the majority of people through telephone interviews – we found that many prefer this to the inconvenience of travelling to our offices. For more complicated issues, or if people need more help, we are able to make follow-up appointments and see people face-to-face. These appointments can now be made at the Volunteer Centre in Syston on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month.
Ian Dennis, Chief Officer for Citizens Advice Charnwood said,
“As support systems put in place during the pandemic are wound down, this is a particularly difficult time for many people. They may be facing redundancy, for example, or unable to return to work due to illness. As a result they may be struggling to pay their bills or possibly even facing eviction. We urge anyone who needs help and advice to contact us via our enquiry line so we can arrange for one of our advisers to call you back. If a follow-up appointment becomes necessary we are really pleased that it is now possible to see people at our local offices. We recognise that it can be difficult for some people to make the journey from Syston into our Loughborough office.”
Take Isabel for example: she has a recurrent mental health condition. She lost her job at the beginning of the pandemic and her mental health deteriorated further during lock down. She applied for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) as she needed help with her everyday living needs but was devastated when this was not successful. Isabel finds it difficult to use the telephone and due to her high level of anxiety, her concentration is poor. An adviser from Citizens Advice therefore arranged an appointment at one of our offices to see Isabel face-to-face and help with her request for a mandatory reconsideration of the decision. The adviser went through the paperwork with Isabel and helped to put into words where she disagreed with the decision and why this was.
For help and advice call the Citizens Advice Charnwood enquiry line on 01509 649 605 and ask to speak to an adviser. Appointments can also be made at the Loughborough office with our specialist debt and energy advisers.
For more information visit our website https://www.charnwoodcab.org.uk/.