THE following is a letter sent today to Julie Jones, Democratic Services Manager at Forest of Dean District Council.

"I write to protest against the proposed 15 per cent cut to the Citizens Advice Bureau and in support of their petition. I urge you to give due and proper consideration to the following.

In my opinion the FOD CAB is the most approachable and least officious organisation Forest citizens have for accessing help and information. Their clients come from all walks of life and their problems and situations vary widely.

CAB does not solve their problems for them, nor do they help people access a free meal ticket. Indeed, whilst CAB?believes everyone has rights under the law they simultaneously acknowledge and inform people of their responsibilities too.

One aim of CAB is to provide the advice people need for their problems they face. As a volunteer at Cinderford Bureau, I've found that through this provision an important means of societal cohesion is maintained. For example, some people find official letters and forms so anxiety provoking they avoid or ignore them. This leaves them in desperate straights, official bodies frustrated and public money wasted. No one benefits and FOD CAB is usually the point for changing the status quo.

Another aim is "to improve the policies and practices that affect people's lives". I have seen how careful monitoring of CABs statistics can shape and drive policies that are essential for efficient communities. This laborious and painstaking work is done by experienced, dedicated volunteers who, by selfless contribution, illustrate that people and community matter.

Remove the sense of 'mattering'. of 'feeling relevant' from a community and breakdown will follow. I believe Citizens Advice Bureaux is integral to ensuring this doesn't happen by ensuring clients experience being heard. Even those disappointed by restrictive answers to their problems can by knowing they are heard, satisfactorily come to terms with their limited situations.

Many factors can be involved in a person's unsatisfactory experience with officialdom, but being unheard, therefore being irrelevant, is primary: in Bureau I frequently hear, "Oh, they never listen!" The result is often anger, desperation, resignation, disinterest and, even. violence. A voice matters when it is heard.

CAB?not only hears the voice, it can, where necessary, convey it, complete with meaning, to the relevant body. Thus clients sense they matter, that they are part of society not isolated from and angry at it. When this sense is felt collectively communities feel whole and societal cohesion occurs. This was clearly demonstrated to me when collecting signatures for the CAB's petition against cuts. Every person I approached on the street, in shops, dentists, pubs, libraries, homes, hairdressers and cafes willingly signed. Some parents asked their elder children to sign explaining what CAB?did and why it is so important. Some people queued to sign, reminding me of a poll station, such was the importance of the matter to them. I was left in no doubt that as each signatory spoke for fellow citizens, so the completed petition fully represents the whole Forest population.

Their voices spoke of despair, frustration, disbelief, contempt and anger. Their faces registered emotions which confirmed authentic, legitimate need for a fully accessible and functioning CAB which the proposed FODDC 15 per cent cut in funding will, in effect, prevent.

The current climate already means clients wait longer to be seen; this is exacerbated by the fallout from other agencies forced to close. Appointments are often three weeks ahead. Gateway Assessment (triage) highlights emergencies, but increasing, and more complex, case loads for advisors and money advice means clients have to return to other drop-in sessions. This can aggravate situations, particularly for carers and the employed. Staff and volunteers are coping admirably under increasing pressure, but cannot realistically do so infinitum without something breaking.

Successful bids with other funding bodies are not guaranteed, so your proposed cut in CAB funding will, in my opinion, cripple an already struggling charitable service. Of course, this cry is reasonably claimed by many Forest groups and organisations currently, nevertheless it is clear to me that no one single other organisation is as valued or as valuable to so many at any one time. FOD?CAB is crucial in maintaining a functioning community.

Government bodies and authorities, like FODDC are intrinsically interwoven into society. Your clients are CAB's. Inasmuch as shortsightedness could compound their existing financial hardship and threaten social cohesion, prudence could ensure some damage limitation. It seems to me it is in your best interests to maintain your funding to CAB in full."

– Yours sincerely, Vicky Hampton, Hart Lane, Ruardean.