CAB is vital service
Published on 14th February 2008 in Letters
Sir – No one should be surprised to read that the district-wide service provided by Boothferry Citizens' Advice Bureau is being decimated in less than two months' time.
After all, it's common knowledge that debt and benefit problems, family breakdowns, employment disputes and other social ills have been on a downward spiral for the past few years. Indeed, judging by the major funding cuts being imposed on our local CAB - as disclosed in last week's Goole Times - I can only assume that the need for such organisations in the early part of the 21st century is diminishing by the day.
Who said we're experiencing an epidemic of bankruptcies, home repossessions, county court judgments and the like? "Crisis. What crisis?", if I may misquote a certain James Callaghan in 1979.
No, there must be some other reason why queues of people line up outside the Advice Bureau's front door in Pasture Road every Monday and Wednesday morning, each client hoping to be the first to be seen.
There must be a rational explanation why this volunteer-led organisation, with a history stretching back to the Second World War, has also been providing outreach services in Snaith, Gilberdyke, Holme-on-Spalding Moor, Brough, Pocklington and Market Weighton, let alone manning the telephones to help all and sundry.
There must be a reason why staff at Jobcentre Plus, at ERYC's customer services' department in Church Street and at other official-sounding premises are frequently heard advising callers to "try the CAB - they can help you out".
Well, forsaking my sarcasm, I have to conclude that they won't be doing as much of that in future if the bureau cash crisis isn't solved very soon. My late father was dying of cancer when a CAB adviser helped him to obtain Disability Living Allowance a few months ago. This adviser told me that her workload had increased significantly in recent years, especially with the introduction of ever-more-complex legislation governing tax credits, insolvency regulations and the rest.
I hadn't realised that CAB workers from Goole had even been visiting some of our local secondary schools to give basic lessons on "financial literacy", hopefully to steer pupils towards sensible money management before encountering heartache at a later date. But guess what? Funding for this initiative ran out, as has the cash to pay for other vital bureau work, much of it aimed at preventing problems from arising in the first place.
When I bumped into the same adviser last Friday, I told her of my dismay on reading about the CAB's plight. She told me that some of the most experienced paid staff were having to look for alternative employment, while others faced a cut in hours. Desperate clients, including those facing homelessness, would meet increased competition for yet-more-precious bureau time from the end of next month.
I hadn't appreciated that our CAB, just like the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and other charities, is totally reliant for its survival on the goodwill of well-wishers. If they don't put their hands in their pockets, the service sinks.
Not to put fine a point on it, but the bureau in Goole alone must have saved many lives over the decades by helping vulnerable people to cope with severe difficulties that may otherwise have led to their suicide. Isn't one life worth the price of a generous gift or gifts, perhaps from a wealthy businessman or woman, maybe even a City banker whose bonus alone would be more than enough to protect the Boothferry CAB for another year or two?
I urge everyone reading this letter to show their generosity before it's too late. "Use it or lose it" does not apply here. You can use it as much as you like, but you'd better be quick before the time runs out.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED