Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Bureau could face massive funding cut
Staff wins praise after Thomas get top service
“The team there are an essential par t of the community; I don’t know how people would manage without them.”
Those are the impassioned words of Glenboig man Thomas Moles on the dedicated team of staff at Coatbridge Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB).
An average of 60 people per day visit the Airdrie and Coatbridge bureaux and Thomas is among those now facing up to the prospect of being left out in the cold – as both organisations face crippling cuts to their services.
The Coatbridge bureau could be subject to a massive 57 per cent cut in annual funding – a loss of £67,100 – with its Airdrie counterpart set to lose out on a whopping £60,350 a year – a 48 per cent reduction.
As previously reported in the Advertiser, staff at the bureaux – which have served the Monklands community for a combined 67 years – have called the developments “devastating news” that leaves the fate of both in “serious jeopardy”.
Thomas, 58, turned to the Coatbridge CAB for help when he became unemployed due to ill health – and highlighted how imperative the service provided has been to him over the past few years.
He told the Advertiser: “I got in touch with the bureau to see when their Glenboig outreach service was taking place as I was looking for help to fill in benefits forms.
“They were very nice to me right from the beginning and came out to see me at my house as I wasn’t well enough to go there.
“Some of these benefits forms are like a book and without the bureau’s help, I would never have been able to fill them out properly.
“Jacqui MacLeod from the bureau has been brilliant and has helped me through appeals processes too. Dealing with the same person all the time makes you feel more comfortable, and gives things a personal touch.
“All of this would’ve been too much for me to cope with on my own as it was so unfamiliar and without the bureau I would probably never have got any benefits.”
Responding to news on the potential cuts to the CAB’s services, Thomas added: “I couldn’t believe it when I heard about these proposals.
“Every time I go to the bureau’s office it is really busy with lots of people coming and going.
“The team there are an essential part of the community; I don’t know how people would manage without them.”
The welfare rights facility that Thomas has utilised at the Coatbridge bureau is one of the services under threat, with the council due to meet on September 22 to deliberate on the cuts.
Marian Tobin, manager of the Coatbridge bureau, said: “We have numerous clients like Thomas who phone up to ask for our welfare rights officers by name.
“The proposed cuts to our funding will have a major impact on our welfare rights team and our clients in Coatbridge and its surrounding villages.
“We are trying to secure funding at the moment as the board are looking at ways to keep our welfare rights service going.
“The outreach surgery service, which is how Thomas got linked up with us in the first place, is also under threat.
“This is a very, very worrying time for everyone at the bureaux and staff are at risk of redundancy.”