Bureau celebrates 80th birthday

Glossop’s Citizen's Advice branch broke out the cake and biscuits for a well-deserved celebration - it was one of the very first offices to be established in the country.

The Citizens’ Advice Bureau turned 80 last week, with celebrations taking place up and down the country to mark the milestone.

Glossop’s branch also took the time to reflect on their many years of service to the community – with the office being one of the first in the country to be founded, back in September 1939.

With it still going strong in the same spot, the bureau has been diligently serving the community, despite the issues people come with changing over the years.

Melanie Mallinson, 48, Senior Operations Manager for Derbyshire, explained: “Glossop was one of the first offices opened in the war to help deal with the aftermath.

“So if we go back 80 years in Glossop, we would have been given advice on rationing or how to manage an allotment and look after yourselves.

“If we look at comparisons to today, it’s very different – we don’t deliver advice out of a horsebox, because at that time there were no other offices and mobile units were used in villages and driven into towns.

“But the services we deliver have evolved to meet the needs of the clients today.

“Citizens’ Advice is a charity with free services…. primarily we focus on benefit, debt, consumer issues, employment and housing and anything else that may present.”

Citizens’ Advice also campaigns for change, with a large research and campaign section that collects data nationally and globally.

A party was also held in Matlock for all staff and volunteers to come, celebrate and reflect on how the service has changed and helped so many people over the years.

David Moss, 53, is an outreach worker across Tameside and Glossop – having originally accessed the service as a client eight years ago after he left the Royal Air Force.

“My first experience of the service was as a very grateful client, when I encountered a whole number of issues and problems I wasn’t used to dealing with and presented at my local bureau,” he said.

“I was met with a friendly face and they helped me make a start on all these issues a bit at a time, and I remember all the weight lifting off my shoulders – I thought if I get the opportunity, I’m going to volunteer and do this.

“Now every day when I come in, I have the opportunity to help make somebody’s life better and it is one of the easiest things to volunteer for.”

Nationally Citizens’ Advice has helped millions of  people by phone, email, web chat and in person.

For more information on the Citizens’ Advice Service or to volunteer visit https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk