Citizens Advice in South Oxfordshire and the Vale would like to keep in touch with our stakeholders by sending you a short email each month.
- First, to ask you to encourage people to seek advice when they have a problem they can’t resolve. Delaying action can make problems much worse.
- Second, to keep you up to date with our service and to invite you to tell us what you like and what we could do better.
In this first ‘Headlines’, we will tell you about our scams awareness week and our community training on financial capability. We will also give you some facts about your Citizens Advice service.
Scams awareness:
As part of a national Citizens Advice campaign in July, we will raise awareness of local scams. We will publicise what can be done to prevent them and what to do if someone becomes a victim, ideally via your newsletters if you agree. We’d be grateful if you would let us know about any scams that you are aware of by emailing .
Community training:
Last financial year, Citizens Advice in South Oxfordshire and the Vale ran 140 workshops, all linked to managing money, for different groups in the community: secondary schools, military personnel, day centres for older people, children’s centres, people with learning disabilities and tenants in supported housing units. Not many know we do this. The aim is to help people acquire the financial skills they need to manage their money and prevent them getting into debt.
There are three modules:
- Budgeting: making the most of your money
- Banking: best options and deals
- Avoiding debt: dangers of credit and borrowing
There is increasing demand for this service and we hope to raise funds to build our team and thereby increase the number of sessions we are able to run.
Citizens Advice Oxfordshire South & Vale:
is a local charity providing the Citizens Advice service locally. We receive no national funding. We operate out of Abingdon, Didcot, Faringdon, Henley, Thame and Wallingford. Each year, we advise 8,000 people via our 156 skilled volunteers and 10 full-time employed staff. The main topics are benefits, debt, employment, housing and relationships.
Sometimes, help can be provided via a 10 minute phone call. In more complex cases, many visits may be needed involving several hours of adviser time. Failure to tackle a problem (e.g. debt) can lead to other problems (e.g. loss of home, depression) that can reduce a person’s ability to manage a family or earn a living. Almost all clients said they were satisfied with the service they received.
If you have any queries, please contact Joseph Mailler on 01235 550553,
