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Citizens Advice Background

One of the organisations you will find mentioned in many sections of BEST Advice is the Citizens Advice Bureau. This organisation has been there for people with problems for a lot longer than you might imagine.

The CAB actually began the day after the Second World War starting on September 4th 1939. For some years prior to this the Government had been considering how to support its new social welfare system and it was the prospect of war and the social issues which that would bring that prompted them to open 200 CAB offices.

In the early days, these offices ran from public buildings and private houses and as the war progressed the number of Bureau's rose to 1074 in 1942.They dealt with all manner of enquiries from helping to trace missing servicemen to advice on family debt.

The CAB website history section says that one Bureau even operated from converted horse boxes parked in a bombed out area. From these humble beginnings the Bureau survived funding cuts after the War and went on to grow into the organisation it is today. Celebrating its 70th birthday in 2009, the CAB now has over 416 Citizens Advice Bureau offices operating across England and Wales. Each one is an independent registered charity.

These offices are responsible for running advice centres at approximately 3,300 different locations, including community outreach venues as well as CAB offices. 21,000 volunteers, along with full and part time paid administrative staff help people to resolve their problems, regardless of their nature, and they do this by providing free advice and information and by helping them access other local services.

The Bureau also influences Government policymakers. By using information they had gathered from clients over a long period they have even managed to get Acts of Parliament changed as they did in 2004 when the Housing Bill was amended to include a tenancy deposit protection scheme.

The CAB provides non judgmental, impartial and free advice on a massive range of subjects, and you can access this advice in person, as well as by phone, or via the internet.

There is more on the CAB advice guide site later in this section, but suffice to say the site has had over 8.5 million visitors. The CAB also works closely with other agencies, like our Extended Services Department and at Samuel Whitbread they provide a structure course for 6th Formers on money management to prepare the students for life either at University or in employment.

Your local bureau

To find your local CAB bureau visit the website homepage and you will see a section on the left entitled "Find your local bureau." Just complete the box with your postcode or the name of the nearest town and the site will come up with a selection of the nearest bureaux.

Advice over the Internet

Of all the Internet help and advice websites we visited when we made BEST Advice, there is one which stands out above all the others. All of the sites we recommend on BEST Advice are good, otherwise we wouldn't point you towards them, but the CAB Advice Guide site is absolutely excellent. It has sections on your rights, money, family and the A to Z of topics covers literally thousands of issues.

If you need to navigate through the complex world of benefits eligibility or want advice on legal aid, aren't sure about a compensation issue or need to check how you nominate a deserving person for an award in the Honours List, it's all on here.

You can get to the CAB Advice Guide site by going to: www.adviceguide.org.uk

We think you would be hard pressed to find another site that offers so much advice.