Citizens Advice Bureau to come to Mountnessing

Brentwood CAB has for some time been aware of the need for an outreach service to the Parishes of Brentwood for the elderly and those without transport, but has lacked the funding to provide one.

Recently this issue has received national attention and some funding has become available for rural projects. In particular there is concern that there is significant under-claiming of some benefits, particularly Attendance Allowance, Pension Credit and Council Tax Benefit.

In order to address these issues, we put together a proposal for a project to provide benefits advice in partnership with the Brentwood Parishes, which was received enthusiastically by them. As a result, we have now secured sufficient funding from Essex County Council to be able to provide such a service on a trial basis. Initially, the service will run for two years, during which time we will be both able to evaluate the its effectiveness and identify sources of permanent funding – indeed we already have another application being reviewed.

It is planned to start the service in May 2007 on a one day every two months basis, so that we can cover all parishes on a 2-monthly cycle. The venue has been agreed with your Parish Council, and will be St John’s Hall. The dates and times the service is available will be advertised regularly on Parish Council Notice Boards, on this website and in the Newsletter, with a telephone number to call to make an appointment. In some cases it may be possible for us to make a home visit.

The service will be reviewed on a regular basis, and if it proves to be successful we will be looking for further funding to increase its availability.

Brentwood CAB offers free confidential advice by trained advisers. They can assess if you are likely to be entitled to a benefit and assist you to make a claim. We can also provide advice on many other issues. In 2005/6, we provided help to nearly 5,000 Brentwood households on approaching 11,000 issues.

For information on this new service, or any other problem on which you think Brentwood CAB could help, our number is 01277 220248

http://www.brentwoodadvice.co.uk/contact.html (use 'Useful links')