Swale Borough Council donates £20,000 to Citizens Advice Swale

Citizens Advice Swale has received a £20,000 grant from Swale Borough Council to help support their free advice service to the residents of Swale.

Citizens Advice Swale is an independent local charity that provides free and impartial advice about debt, housing, unemployment, immigration and family matters.

The charity has helped more than 60,000 people since the offices in Sittingbourne and Faversham merged in 2005, and also carries out research and campaigning alongside its free advice service.

Cllr Roger Truelove, leader of the council, said:

“We are very pleased to provide this extra support to Citizens Advice Swale.

“We already donate money to the charity every year, and last year we contributed more than £130,000 in total.

“We hope that this £20,000 grant will help them continue their invaluable service to the people around the borough who find themselves struggling.

“They provide free advice about debt, housing, welfare benefits, employment and family matters among other topics, and we are very conscious of how much they do to support the community.

“This is a key objective for us, so we’re pleased with the opportunity to support those who support our community.”

Mark Hinton, Chief Officer at Citizens Advice Swale, said:

“We are very grateful to Swale council for this additional funding.

“Every year we help more than 4,000 people around the borough, and any money we receive helps us provide a free, confidential and impartial service to anyone who needs it.

“We have a dedicated team of staff and over 40 volunteers and we would not be able to keep them without the financial support we receive from various grants, so this £20,000 will go a long way to helping us provide the invaluable service we’re known for.”

Citizens Advice Swale are operating an increased telephone service in place of face-to-face services while the country works to protect people from the spread of COVID-19.

People can call Adviceline on 0344 848 7978 for general advice, Help to Claim on 0800 144 8444 for new Universal Credit claims, or visit www.citizensadviceswale.uk for more information.