Dear Editor,

Many of your readers will have heard that Cornwall Council is proposing to cut Citizens Advice Cornwall’s budget by more than 50% next year.

This will have a devastating impact on the charity, which last year dealt with 19,000 cases in Cornwall alone. The cuts will mean the likely closure of seven of our nine offices and the loss of many trained and dedicated volunteers and staff.

CA is already a cost-effective service as our 160 volunteers are unpaid and last year they helped people in need claim an additional £4.2 million in benefits they were entitled, which is new money coming into Cornwall. In addition, they helped people in the county write-off £5.8 million in debt.

CA’s mission is to provide free, independent, impartial and accurate advice for everyone on a wide range of issues including debt, benefits, housing, employment, discrimination and consumer issues and gives Cornwall a voice through national Citizens Advice campaigns.

I would urge any readers who want to keep Citizens Advice active in Cornwall to sign our online petition on Change.org or to visit any of our offices to sign paper copies.

Yours sincerely,

Sue Swift

Citizens Advice Cornwall Chair of Trustees

c/o

Citizens Advice Cornwall, The Community Centre, South Terrace, Camborne TR14 8SU