h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today is 'c'for Citizens Advice Bureau.
The CAB is a very British institution - I don't know how many other countries have something similar. It gives free, impartial and confidential information and advice, helping people to access services and fulfil their responsibilities. It's not one body but a network of charities.
I started work for my local bureau in 2007 and trained as an advisor. I found this the most demanding job I'd ever done - and the advisors, at least in my bureau, are all volunteers. It's demanding partly because the range of issues you need to cover - mainly debt, benefits, housing, consumer issues, employment and family law. You have plenty of information to draw on, but you need to be able to take it in quickly and impart it to your clients. And the clients range from professional people who are well informed anyway, to people with learning difficulties and mental health issues.
In the end, I succumbed to stress. But I went back to do reception, administrative tasks and social policy. These are easier tasks but not as interesting. If you are an advisor, no two days are the same, no two clients'stories are the same.
Being a charity, the organisation usually runs on a shoe string. For three years, our CAB got funding from the civil legal aid budget, which enabled them to employ specialists with legal qualifications. And then the government slashed the legal aid budget, leaving poor people with little access to justice.

Deb

It runs on a shoestring? Is that like tightrope jogging?

Budget cuts have eviscerated Legal Aid over here, too. I tried to avail myself of their services last year and found myself in a round robin of phone numbers. When I eventually did reach a human, all she was able to tell me regarding my problem was that I should negotiate. There was no offer of further service.

Paulh - usually it means falling off!

[Amy P]