Arun & Chichester Citizens Advice Stakeholder Newsletter

Welcome to this month’s stakeholder newsletter

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for support or if you have a general enquiry. 
We are here for everyone.

See our Contact Us page.

To provide feedback about the newsletter please email Kirsty Denly at: k.denly@arunchichestercab.org.uk 

Cost-of-Living Crisis

The cost-of-living crisis continues to grip the country with more and more people struggling.  With oil and gas prices at an all-time high, this has a knock-on effect on the cost of raw materials, food, energy, clothing, everyday costs and of course, filling up vehicles for these goods and services to get around the country.

Some help has been announced for those on certain benefits which include:

• £150 Council Tax Rebate for those households in Council Tax Bands A-D
• £650 Cost of Living Payments - two payments; first of £326 in July, second of £324 in Autumn for those in receipt  Universal Credit, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Pension Credit.  If there is a joint claim with a partner, they will get one payment of £326 and one payment of £324 for their joint claim, if entitled
• £400 off electricity bills for every household.  This is the Energy Bills Support Scheme starting from October
• £150 in September, if the person is in receipt of a disability benefit such as Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Armed Forces Independence Payment, Constant Attendance Allowance and War Pension Mobility Supplement

                                                 
We are still helping in all sorts of ways, so please continue to refer clients to us. We can help clients access grants, fuel vouchers, food vouchers, the Healthy Start Scheme  and more. See what other help is available along with benefits calculator and budgeting tools.                                                       

Support for those affected by Dementia                   

     

Do you know anyone living with or caring for someone who has Dementia?

We are now able to provide a much-needed advice service to people living with dementia, their carers and families.  We can provide information and advice on any topic, including benefits, housing, health and care, budgeting, employment and energy. 

We will be delivering the service from Sage House, two days a week, or via video call, telephone call or at the client’s home.

The service is accessible to anyone living with dementia, or their carers or families. Please refer clients to us through our referral form.

Midhurst & Selsey Library Video Advice                                                                                                                                                   
We've teamed up with West Sussex County Council Libraries to ensure those who need advice can access it by reducing the knock-on expense some clients might experience when trying to engage with our face-to-face services.

• Midhurst library opening times: Monday-Friday 10am-4pm
• Selsey library opening times: Monday 10am-1pm and Tuesday 11am-2pm

Spread the word about our video service at Midhurst and Selsey libraries. The library staff are on hand to help to book an appointment. 

Celebrating our Volunteers

June is the month we celebrate our lovely volunteers, without whom, we would struggle to provide our valuable service to our citizens. 

People may be looking to volunteer to do something to give back to their community that is rewarding, or might help gain new skills and meet new friends along the way.  See Claire's story here.

One of the roles available is our focused advisers role who talk to clients over the phone, on video calls, face to face and online to explore what problems they’ve come for help with and find information about possible options. A focused adviser trains in one or two areas of advice only, for example debt and benefits or housing alone, allowing them to build a more focused knowledge base. They will also complete some casework on the client's behalf and build up their own caseload.

We are currently recruiting for a number of roles; details of each role can be found in the volunteer's section of our website.
 

Arun and Chichester Food Partnership

Last month the Steering Group were hosted by Tuppenny Barn, a fantastic education centre and organic farm. It was the perfect setting for their 'strategy away day', where they all got together in person for the first time to set the foundations of a Food Strategy for Arun and Chichester and identify the priority areas going forward. Watch this space for more information about the strategy and their plans, and do get in touch if you would like to talk to them about this further.

They are working on creating up-to-date printable sheets for local areas to provide information on food provision in the community. These can be used by organisations to help signpost or refer to the most appropriate service. If you are interested in what free or low cost food is available in the city of Chichester, you can now check out our info sheet here. Watch this space for the same for Bognor Regis, Littlehampton and other areas, coming soon.

More about the Arun & Chichester Food Partnership.