Citizen Advice volunteers across West Sussex have supported more than 2,000 people and been thanked for their resilience

During a time when volunteers and charity staff across the world have stepped up to give extra support to people who need their help, Citizens Advice in West Sussex has been no exception.

The charity, operating across Horsham, Crawley, Mid Sussex, Adur and Worthing, has continued to provide advice to people in need of help, with more than 2,000 people supported since the crisis escalated despite having to temporarily close its face-to-face services.

Almost 100 volunteers have rallied to work from home since the crisis began, meaning local people can continue to get advice over the phone, email and web chat. Irene Campbell, chair of the charity, sent a message of thanks and support to the volunteers.

She said: “To all volunteers helping people across West Sussex, and especially to our own wonderful team, thank you for all of your support to keep our local charities running.

“I could not be prouder than to work with such a dedicated, committed group of staff and volunteers.

“They have answered the call to help local people at a time of need; mobilised and adapted to a different way of working, and helped more than 2,000 clients in the last three weeks alone, making an enormous difference to people’s financial stability, stress levels and wellbeing. I can’t thank them enough for their hard work and resilience throughout this period so far.

“I also want to thank the public for their patience as we adjusted and whilst we recruit additional volunteers to help us.”

The charity has seen employment queries increase by 54 percent since the crisis began, from residents who have lost their job or been furloughed and need to know what to do next.

Advisers are also taking calls from people who have lost their home, struggled to access food and need to find out which benefits they should apply for, including Jobseeker’s Allowance, Universal Credit, disability benefits and Council Tax Support.

Citizens Advice in West Sussex is a registered charity and depends on grants and donations. If you’d like to support the charity at this challenging time, you can help when shopping at home by using Amazon Smile or easyfundraising, and searching for Citizens Advice in West Sussex (North, South, East) as your chosen charity for the retailers to donate to.

For telephone advice call 0344 477 1171

For web chat and email services visit www.advicewestsussex.org.uk.

For self-help information please visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk.

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.