Alliance welcomes new contract for Citizens Advice Bureau

9.34.00am GMT Thu 20th Mar 2008

Alliance Castlereagh Councillor Sara Duncan

Alliance Castlereagh Councillor Sara Duncan has welcomed the news that the Citizens Advice Bureau has been awarded a new three year contract to continue to offer advice to those in debt. The new contract also comes with £1.2 million of funding over the three years.

Cllr Duncan said: "This is great news that an organisation that provides such a valuable service will be able to continue offering advice on debt.

"As a long time volunteer for the organisation I have seen at first hand the recent increase in the numbers of people seeking help with their debt problems.

"Many people come for help when they are overwhelmed with correspondence from banks, credit card and store card debt collection agencies, and are unable to keep up repayments. The only light at the end of the tunnel for them is the help they receive from Citizen Advice Bureau debt advisors, who can barely cope with the daily onslaught of more and more clients.

"The Citizen Advice Bureau offers a free and professional service and I would continue to urge people to go to them if they are having debt problems."

ENDS