Colchester Information & Advice (360G-EssexCF-A466177)
Funding Organization
£5,000
Recipient Organization
Towards the running costs of Colchester Advice Centre providing information and advice on debt management, benefits, and general advice
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Grant Details
| Amount Applied For | 5000 |
| Amount Awarded | 5000 |
| Award Date | 2018-02-22T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Beneficiary Location: Country Code | GB |
| Beneficiary Location: Geographic Code | E01021649 |
| Beneficiary Location: Geographic Code Type | LSOA |
| Beneficiary Location: Name | Colchester 007D |
| Grant Programme: Code | 2017/18 |
| Grant Programme: Title | Multiple Funding |
| Impact Category | Maximise ability to strengthen community cohesion and build social capacity |
| Last Modified | 2021-04-29T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Planned Dates: Duration (months) | 11 |
| Planned Dates: End Date | 2019-03-31T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Planned Dates: Start Date | 2018-04-01T00:00:00+00:00 |
| Primary age group | Adults (26 – 65) |
| Primary beneficiary | Disadvantaged / Low Income |
| Primary ethnicity | All Ethnicities |
| Primary issue | Education, learning and training |
| Recipient Org: Charity Number | 1097252 |
| Recipient Org: Company Number | 04431673 |
| Recipient Org: Description | CAC was established in 1939 as one of the original 200 Citizens Advice bureaux opened by the National Council of Social Services. From its inception, the service has been volunteer-led and existed to provide free, confidential, impartial advice to the citizens of Colchester to help them with the problems they face. The aims of CAC are to: • Provide free confidential and impartial advice and information for the benefit of the local community • To influence the development of social policies and services • To ensure that individuals do not suffer through lack of knowledge or inability to express their needs effectively. These aims contribute to the reduction of crime and antisocial behavior as: • We help clients escaspe from the cycle of long term debt, enabling them to return to economic activity. Last year we helped clients write off nmore that £600,000 of debt • We help clients to claim the benefits they are entitled to. Last year, we helped claim £64,000 of additional benefits • We help clients understand their rights and responsibilities at tenants. Lasr year, we helped with 3,000 housing issues • Help clients resolve employment issues. Last year, we helped with 1,200 employment issues To achieve these aims, we provide: • Face-to-face advice 5 mornings per week from our Crouch St Office (drop in service) • Follow-up appointments 5 days per week for more complex cases (casework) • Telephone advice 5 afternoons per week • Email advice 5 days per week via the Colchester Advice Network (CAN) • Face-to-face advice for 5 sessions per week at Colchester Central Library • Face-to-face advice on Wednesdays at Wivenhoe library (enabling library opening on a day when it would otherwise be closed). In addition, we run discrete projects to provide: • 1 session of face-to-face advice at the Lakes Mental Health unit, with follow-up casework where needed • 5 days specialist debt advice for Colchester Borough Homes tenants via home visits with follow up specialist casework. • 5 days advice via webchat • Weekly evening advice session at the Military Corrective Training Centre (MCTC) with follow up specialist casework. • Financial Assessment Benefits Advice (FABA). • Home Visiting Service for Essex County Council (ECC) benefits service. (Referral basis) In total, CAC provided advice to 12,000 clients last year (discrete client contacts) with 16,350 separate issues*. A bulk of advice (42%) related to debt, followed by benefits and tax credits (18%) and employment (10%). We monitor client volumes on a quarterly basis to ensure client contacts are in line with target. We also monitor trends in the mix of issues to ensure the skills of our advisers matches emerging client needs. * These figures include telephone and webchat advice. Some client contacts via these channels will be from outside the borough. |
| Recipient Org: Web Address | http://www.colchesteradvicenetwork.org.uk/ |