South Canterbury’s Citizens Advice Bureau is still going strong despite two years of Covid-19 restrictions and mandates.
The bureau is almost completely run by volunteers who help and offer advice to people with many different situations such as finding a doctor, where to get things printed or filling out government forms.
They have 25 volunteers; the youngest is 22 and the eldest is 82.
The 82-year-old has been volunteering for the past 24 years and the treasurer has been volunteering for the past 32 years.
They had to set up emails and phone calls with the public during Covid-19 restrictions, and have had to work around people’s availability.
Manager and board member Anne-Marie Chapman said it had been tough.
‘‘A lot of our volunteers are vulnerable, so we have been closed a lot this year.’’
She said the public was more than welcome to get in touch with them about anything, as they were happy to help.
‘‘We help everybody and we are completely autonomous. We show people how and where to find things as they need.’’
She said the cases they get often include employment issues, financial and legal issues, tenancy issues and consumer issues.
They also get cases relating to online and phone scams.
‘‘Not everybody knows how to search safely and some cannot tell the difference between an official site and a rubbish one. We can help avoid that.’’
They also provide a free legal service on Thursdays from 7pm, first-in, first-served, with a roster of local lawyers.
Last year about 150 people used the legal service.
The bureau is 46 years old and is not government funded, and helps about 1600 clients per year.
More volunteers to help out would also be welcome.
‘‘Having empathy is a great skill to have when volunteering with us, but life experience is the main thing.’’
