County Council’s £560k Grant to Surrey’s Citizens Advice Charities

Published on: 4 Feb, 2022
Updated on: 8 Feb, 2022

Surrey County Council (SCC) has announced that it is to give a one-off grant of £560,000 to be shared between the county’s Citizens Advice centres.

In a press release, SCC says the grant will help address the fact that more people in Surrey are struggling financially.

The funding is aimed to enable Citizens Advice centres to increase support to people on budgeting, debt and benefits advice and ensuring people are making the most of what they are entitled to, providing support to manage difficult situations.

SCC adds: “This welfare support positively mitigates the impact that poverty can have on individuals enhancing their health and wellbeing.”

The funding will also go towards providing more training for Citizens Advice staff and volunteers to “continue to provide skilled support to those communities most in need”.

Provision of outreach support at places such as food banks will also be increased too.

Deborah Jones, who chairs the Citizens Advice Surrey Manager group said: “These are tough times and for some people, the choices they are facing are very stark indeed.

“At Citizens Advice we believe no one should have to make decisions without good quality, independent advice.

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with Surrey County Council and in receipt of this funding which will help us to put advice where people need it most to help them in finding a way forward.”

Citizens Advice centres are operated as charities and Surrey County Council’s Surrey Information Point website appears to lists 19 centres in the county.

In the borough of Guildford, Citizens Advice is in the town centre and at Ash. Click here for the website for both.