£5,000 to be among royalty
A CHARITY is offering people the chance to rub shoulders with Princess Anne for a £5,000 donation to a major appeal aimed at saving and improving the service it offers.
The West Norfolk Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB), which helps more than 16,000 people every year with problems such as debts and legal issues, could be at risk unless 50,000 is raised to help it relocate to bigger, more suitable offices.
The move would also improve access to the advice it offers, and increase the number of services available to the community.
But unless the money is raised by December, the charity faces losing its existing base and services could be put at risk.
Staff and volunteers will be raising awareness of the appeal and kick starting the fundraising when the charity's patron, Princess Anne, pays a visit on Monday, October 22.
The CAB is offering an invitation to the prestigious occasion to any business or individual who can donate 5,000 or more to the appeal.
Strategic manager Samantha Nurse said the CAB has been based at Thoresby College in Lynn's Queen Street since the branch opened 41 years ago.
Although the Grade I listed building is an historic attraction in Lynn, the CAB's customer satisfaction surveys often condemn the interview rooms there as too small and uncomfortable and a disability audit report said they were unsuitable.
The charity has wanted to move for the last ten years, but every opportunity to relocate in the past has fallen through.
It now has the chance to move into congenial offices at Whites House in St Nicholas Street, but it needs the money to relocate its staff and volunteers, install technology to link up with regional offices and specialist advice and increase services.
"Moving into new offices would help us to help more people and improve our services – including some that couldn't possibly have been faciliated before," said Mrs Nurse.
"Although we deal with thousands of inquiries every year, there is so much more that we can achieve with the right foundation and resources."
New services would include a new triage system where customers are seen on priority of need rather than on a first- come first-served basis which often sees people, including the disabled and elderly, waiting hours for advice. The charity would also be able to open an extra day to offer advice, extending its service from four to five-days-a-week.
The CAB hopes to raise the 50,000 with 25,000 from the CAB regional office in Cambridge, a 15,000 community grant application to West Norfolk Council, and is asking Lynn News readers to help with the last 10,000.
The money needs to be found as soon as possible, ready for the move to happen in December, otherwise the tenancy at Thoresby College will run out, leaving the CAB in desperate need of a temporary home and putting its services at risk.
Anyone who would like to support the appeal can send cheques, payable to West Norfolk CAB, to Thoresby College, Queen Street, King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1HX. For more information on the Princess Anne visit contact Mrs Nurse at the CAB on 01553 763502 or e-mail: strategic@wncab.cabnet.org.uk
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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