[The below is a press release from Mid Sussex District Council, January 30th, 2018]
Mid Sussex District Council has agreed to contribute £119,404 to help Citizens Advice provide their valuable services in Mid Sussex over the next 12 months.
The Citizens Advice service provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everybody, whatever the problem. They link to a network of over 300 local charities across England and Wales, helping people to resolve a range of issues from problems with benefits and tax credits to the impact of a breakdown of family relationships.
Mid Sussex District Council has provided financial support for the local Citizens Advice Service for many years as part of a county wide funding agreement with West Sussex County Council. The county council is preparing a new two-year agreement, with the option to extend for a further two years, that will see all District and Borough Councils join with West Sussex County Council to jointly fund the Citizens Advice Service in West Sussex. In the meantime, Mid Sussex District Council has agreed that it will extend the current funding arrangement until March 2019, providing the Citizen’s Advice Service with £119,404 over the next 12 months.
“We are fortunate to have a thriving voluntary sector in Mid Sussex, with a range of organisations working to help and support local people,” said Councillor Norman Webster, Cabinet Member for Community. “They do tremendous work but none of it would be possible without a steady source of income.
“I’m proud that our Council has pledged to continue its support for local Citizens Advice services by approving this grant and committing to fund them for the next 5 years. This funding will provide Citizens Advice with greater financial certainty, adding to the many charitable donations from the public and supporting the work of the self-less volunteers who give up their time to make a difference in our community.”
In Mid Sussex there are Citizens Advice drop-in centres in the three major towns of Burgess Hill, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath. In 2016/17 the Central & South Sussex Citizens Advice, which serves Mid Sussex, helped 24,608 people to deal with 55,646 issues.
Almost three quarters of Citizens Advice clients said their problem caused anxiety and financial difficulty, so the support services they provide make a real difference to the wellbeing of local people.
For more information about the services provided by Citizens Advice call the Adviceline on 0344 477 1171 or visit www.cassca.org.uk.
