Mid Sussex District Council grants £119,000 to Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everybody, whatever the problem.

They link to a network of more than 300 charities across England and Wales, helping people to resolve a range of issues from problems with benefits and tax credits to the impact of a breakdown of family relationships.

The district council has provided financial support for the service for many years as part of a countywide funding agreement with West Sussex County Council and has agreed that it will extend the current funding arrangement until March 2019, providing the service with £119,404.

The county council is preparing a new two-year agreement, with the option to extend for a further two years, that will see all district and borough councils join with the county council to jointly fund the service in West Sussex.

Councillor Norman Webster, cabinet member for community, said: “We are fortunate to have a thriving voluntary sector in Mid Sussex, with a range of organisations working to help and support local people.

“They do tremendous work but none of it would be possible without a steady source of income.

“I’m proud that our council has pledged to continue its support for Citizens Advice services by approving this grant and committing to fund them for the next five years.

“This funding will provide the service with greater financial certainty, adding to the many charitable donations from the public and supporting the work of the self-less volunteers who give up their time to make a difference in our community.”

In Mid Sussex there are Citizens Advice drop-in centres in the three major towns of Burgess Hill, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath.

In 2016/17 the Central and South Sussex Citizens Advice, which serves Mid Sussex, helped 24,608 people to deal with 55,646 issues.

Almost three quarters of Citizens Advice Service clients said their problem caused anxiety and financial difficulty, so the support services they provide make a real difference to the wellbeing of local people.

For more information about the services provided by Citizens Advice call the Adviceline on 0344 477 1171 or visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk.