Guest Blog Citizens Advice Cost of Living Update

Citizens Advice West Berkshire Blog – The Cost of Living Crisis is far from over

The cost of living crisis isn’t going away. Citizens Advice has been warning for some time that the cost of living crisis would soon morph into a household debt crisis. We could see problems were looming. At Citizens Advice West Berkshire (CAWB), we wanted to make sure that we would be ready when the debt crisis hit, by building the capacity of our Money Advice Service to meet this growing demand. Greenham Trust and West Berkshire Council stepped forward with a very generous donation of £25,678 which enabled us to recruit a debt caseworker and a trainee debt caseworker, to help people get the vital support that they need.

Our latest statistics show that 2023 is definitely shaping up to be the year of the debt crisis. At the beginning of the year, Citizens Advice nationally helped the highest number of people with debt advice than in the last eight years.

The number of people we are helping with crisis support such as foodbank referrals or charitable grants, increased by 178% in the first four months of 2023.

(Both graphs show slight dip in demand a dip in April, due to Easter and school holidays as well as the arrival of Cost Living payments)

Isabel Esperanca, Chief Officer of Citizens Advice West Berkshire said:

“The funding from Greenham Trust and West Berkshire Council has been invaluable in helping us support a growing number of clients with debt problems. We’d also like to reassure people who are worried about their bills that you are not alone and support is out there. The important thing is to reach out for help. If people are looking for advice, a good place to start is the Citizens Advice web-site www.citizensadvice.org.uk.”

“Across West Berkshire, the cost of living crisis is really impacting people, who are running on empty, as you can see from our dashboard on the top five cost of living issues that people come to us for help with. As demand for our services grow, the cost of living emergency funding from Greenham Trust and West Berkshire Council is a lifeline for charities like ours.”