Adviceline: . 10am – 3:30pm, Monday to Friday.
Migrant Worker helpline in Latvian and Polish: .
Available 9:30am – 1pm, advice in Polish on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and in Latvian on Fridays.
South Holland Citizens Advice Bureau provides a gateway/triage service in Spalding, Holbeach and Long Sutton for walk-in clients, followed by appointments when necessary.
Together with the six other Lincolnshire bureaux, we provide a countywide telephone advice service, as well as telephone advice in Polish and Latvian on a separate county number.
We have specialist caseworkers for complex debt, housing and welfare benefit problems, by appointment.
South Holland Citizens Advice Bureau is based at South Holland District Council Offices in Priory Road. If you need advice, please drop in during opening hours: Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10am – 4pm; Thursdays and Fridays 10am – 1pm; the last Saturday of every month 9:30am–12:30pm. Alternatively, ring the National Citizen Advice Help Line on .
Is there money with your name on it?
Nationally, at least £6 billion goes unclaimed every year in benefits – are you claiming all the benefits to which you are entitled? “As the recession continues to hit people in the pocket they will be finding it hard to make ends meet, but there are many who are still missing out on benefits”, says Diane Clay, Manager of South Holland CAB.
Most of us, at some point in our lives, will have times when we are not able to earn our own living, perhaps because we are ill, or cannot get a job, or are simply too old to work any more, and people with young families often struggle to make ends meet. If any of the following apply to you:
* you're on a low income (employed or looking for work)
* you have dependent children
* you're ill or disabled
* you're caring for someone
* you're aged 60 or over
* you have been bereaved
* you're pregnant or have recently had a baby
Then there may well be benefits to which you are entitled, but perhaps the complexity of the benefit system is putting you off making a claim.
Struggling on a tight budget can leave a family at its wit’s end, but securing social security entitlements is not always easy. Advice is vital in finding a way through the benefits maze and helping get household budgets onto a sustainable footing. Money is especially tight for families living with disabilities and a successful claim for disability benefits can be vital in giving greater independence. Sometimes being entitled to one benefit enables you to claim others, but you need to know what is available. You can find out more about welfare benefits from the government website www.direct.gov.uk and from the CAB website www.adviceguide.org.uk
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau also has specialist welfare benefit caseworkers who can:
* work out whether you are entitled to benefits;
* advise on the benefits to which you are entitled;
* help with claim forms – many benefit claim forms can be long and off-putting, and the purpose of the questions is not always clear. For some benefits, filling in the form correctly can make the difference between a successful and an unsuccessful claim;
* help with problems over claims, for example when a benefit has been suspended or stopped or claims are lost or delayed.
CAB advice in South Holland generates thousands of pounds in extra benefit for low income households and to help with specific needs – since April 2009, 189 South Holland CAB clients have been assisted to claim £607,600 in benefits.
Citizens Advice Bureaux give free, confidential, impartial and independent advice to help you solve your problems.
South Holland Citizens Advice Bureau is open at:
South Holland District Council Offices in Priory Road.
Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10am – 4pm; Thursdays and Fridays 10am – 1pm; the last Saturday of every month 9:30am–12:30pm.
Parish Offices, Hall St, Crowland
Last Wednesday of every month 1 - 4pm
Ruby Hunt Centre, Church St, Donington
2nd Tuesday of every month 1 - 4pm
Drop in during opening hours or call for an appointment (not an advice line).
For advice by e-mail:
Lincolnshire telephone advice line: 99
Polish advice line:
The bureau is also open at the following, by appointment only (ring ):
Parish Offices, 11 West End, Holbeach: Wednesday & Fridays 10am – 1pm;
Market House, Market St, Long Sutton: Mondays (drop-in for 15 minute interviews)
& Thursdays 10am – 1pm (appointments only).
www.shcab.org.uk
Free, confidential advice on a wide range of subject