Bureaux - helping the community
Your local citizens advice bureau does a lot for its community, and helps more than just the people that use the service.
Here are some of the ways that bureaux help their communities:
Bringing money into the local community
Bureaux bring money into their local community in a number of ways, like:
- bureau clients get benefits and other money (from court cases and tribunal hearings, from example) that they are entitled to
- bureaux are often able to get funding from a range of sources to help create more jobs in the area – money that will be spent in the area, too
Employment and volunteering opportunities
There are thousands of people working in bureaux all over Scotland as either paid staff or volunteers.
- Over 85% of CAB service staff in Scotland are volunteers
- When bureau volunteers decide to move on, over 40% go into paid work or further education. That can only boost the community overall
Increasing knowledge and skills
Everyone that gets involved with a bureau gains experience and information that helps them in other parts of their lives:
- bureau clients know their rights better and can make their own decisions
- bureau paid staff and volunteers learn all sorts of skills on the job.
Find out more about what bureau volunteers do.
Empowering people to resolve their problems
Bureaux help clients to help themselves. As well as helping to resolve the problems clients bring to the service, bureaux help equip people to face the future with greater confidence.
Once people understand how they can get help, they are more likely to look for help sooner next time round. This helps people get out of difficulty quicker
Influencing social policy to make life better
Scottish bureaux work with Citizens Advice Scotland to make a difference to local and national social policy. This helps everyone, not just CAB clients. Find out more about our social policy work.
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