Citizens Advice East Herts asks Bishop’s Stortford Town Council for £10,000 lifeline

Bishop’s Stortford Town Council is ready to hand Citizens Advice East Herts (CAEH) a £10,000 lifeline as the organisation fights for survival.

On Monday (Sept 30) members of the finance and policy committee considered a grant request from the 84-year-old charity.

In a letter, CAEH chief executive Maxine Bromyard told the council: “We are facing an uncertain financial future and need to take some urgent action. Citizens Advice East Herts is at a critical juncture.”

She explained that the organisation was the only agency in the district offering free, comprehensive, first-port-of-call advice and advocacy on any problem.

“As such, we are the charity underpinning other voluntary sector organisations, who address only a subset of the area’s needs,” said Ms Bromyard.

“Other agencies, such as Age UK and the HCC [Herts County Council] Money Advice Unit have reduced support options due to cost cuts, increasing waiting time for help with tasks like form-filling.

“We take up the overflow from other charities when they are closed to referrals, and we support vulnerable clients with complex needs while they wait for help, such as social care assessments, from statutory bodies.”

Citizens Advice operates from a base at the Methodist Church in South Street. In the past 12 months it has helped 1,468 people in Bishop’s Stortford wards with 5,929 issues. The financial gains for those clients have been calculated at £998,127.

It has 27 members of staff and volunteers – 30% of the total team – who live in and around the town.

Since 2019, Citizens Advice’s core funding from East Herts Council has been slashed by 56%. In 2023-24, the base grant was £99,000.

Ms Bromyard said: “To maintain a viable financial position, trustees have decided to reduce expenditure significantly… We know that if we take no action, our service is on a downward trajectory and won’t be here to support Bishop’s Stortford residents within 18 to 24 months.

“Our immediate concern is to avoid closing the service for additional hours on top of the one-day cut we made in April.

“We need to raise another £40,000 in order to complete this year in a stable position, and our forecast for the financial year 2025 has a shortfall of £100,000 based on our current running costs for a four-day-per-week service.

“This means we would have to cut opening hours… to a maximum of two days or four half-days per week. We feel this is not a satisfactory service for the people of East Herts and demand continues to grow.”

The charity’s efforts to balance its books include collaboration and possible merger with other Citizens Advice offices in Hertfordshire.

Ms Bromyard asked the town council to grant £10,000 a year on an “ongoing basis” to keep it afloat.

She said: “I appreciate this is a big ask, as we are aiming to secure our long-term future not just for the people of Bishop’s Stortford but all of East Herts.”

The four other town councils in East Herts support the charity: Buntingford grants it £4,000 a year, Sawbridgeworth gives £1,000, Ware provides the equivalent of £2,500 for room hire and Hertford has agreed to gift £10,000 in 2024-25.

Bishop’s Stortford Town Council currently gives nothing, but Citizens Advice has benefitted from several grants from the Brazier Trust, which is administered by the council.

The leader, Cllr Miriam Swainston, said: “I don’t think there’s anyone on the council who does not support Citizens Advice and their work.”

With concerns that any grant should directly benefit town residents and fears about committing to ongoing funding, the committee voted to recommend that the full council make a one-off £10,000 grant when members meet on Monday (Oct 7). Town councillors, as Brazier trustees, will also consider a separate Citizens Advice request for £5,000.