Celebrities reveal their best advice for CAB Advice Week

PRESS RELEASE
 
Celebrities and people from public life have shared their best piece of advice for Advice Week, the annual awareness week for the country’s frontline Citizens Advice Bureaux.
 
Broadcaster Piers Morgan and Holywood actor Ioan Gruffudd are among those who are helping to raise awareness of the importance of good advice.

Last year, the CAB service in Scotland alone helped people deal with over 440,000 queries from the public, ranging from benefits and debt to housing problems and employment problems.
 
Advice Week 2007 also aims to high light the opportunities for more people to volunteer with their local CAB – there are 76 offices in Scotland and around 80 per cent of the staff are trained volunteers.
 
Kaliani Lyle, chief executive of bureau umbrella body Citizens Advice Scotland, said: “As a charity that specialises in advice-giving, we thought it would be fun to ask celebrities what advice they had been given over the years or advice that they would pass on.  Thousands of people rely on the CAB service for life-changing advice and we would encourage people to get involved with their local bureau, whether it is volunteering, fundraising or campaigning.  You can make a real difference and see how your life can be changed too. “
 

Piers Morgan, broadcaster
“Never try and work with a hangover, get out of trouble as fast as you can, and always remember that one day you're the cock of the walk, the next you're a feather duster.”
 
Ioan Gruffudd, actor, Amazing Grace, Fantastic Four
"At a low point whilst studying acting, I told my parents that I wanted to quit. My father imparted one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given - to persevere and stay the course until I had completed my training and if by that time I still wanted to quit acting I could do it then.  He told me it was far better to have completed something and see it through to its conclusion, rather than quitting and not knowing the things I could have achieved and be forever regretful."
 
John Bird, founder of the Big Issue
“Take advice from those with experience, that’s the best advice I can give.”
 
Ken Russell, film director
“My advice is to listen to uplifting pieces of music when you feel down in the dumps. There is a popular piece I always find inspiring - guaranteed to cheer anyone up. It is optimistic and life-affirming and very get up and go. It is ‘Something’s coming” from Leonard Bernstein’s ‘West Side story’.“
 
Jeanette Winterson, writer
“My best piece of advice is this – do it from the heart, or not at all. We live in a world dominated by numbers; ratings, audience figures, hits, friends on MySpace, how many, how fast, how often, and of course money money money. I believe that life is best lived by purpose, not money. To make something, to be something, to do something, because it is a passion, and because it is whole-hearted.”

1. Each CAB is an independent charity, run by a committee of local people, and responsible for raising its own funding.
2. Around 80 per cent of CAB workers are trained volunteers – if you’d like to help your local community for just a few hours each week, contact your local bureau manager, or volunteer through the CAS website – www.cas.org.uk
3. The first bureaux in Scotland were established in 1939 as a wartime information service.  There are now 76 CAB offices across Scotland, which operate from over 200 service points, and which form the country’s largest independent advice network.
4. CAB advice services aim to be freely available and accessible to everyone in the community.
5. Consumer debt is now the single biggest issue that CABx deal with.  Last year, CABx in Scotland dealt with debt totalling over £211m.
6. Images and logos of the CAB service are available from the CAS press and communications officer (see contact above).
7. Practical and up-to-date information is available online from Adviceguide (www.adviceguide.org.uk), including factsheets you can print off.