Service 'overwhelmed' as charity turns people away

Jed Westcott said they were often overwhelmed with demand

A charity offering free advice on legal and financial issues has said it is struggling to cope with the number of people in the south west using its services.

Citizens Advice (CA) in Devon said it was receiving record numbers of inquiries.

It said it had 32,000 inquiries last year, up from 30,000 in the year before the Covid pandemic.

The charity said it was part of a national trend showing a gradual increase in demand for CA services since the Covid lockdowns.

'We can't help'

In Cornwall last year they dealt with 8,000 inquiries compared to about 7,000 before the pandemic.

Jed Westcott, team leader at the Okehampton branch, said they were often overwhelmed with demand.

He said: "We are having to turn people away, we are having to say to people that we can’t help them and that is tough on us.

"It’s tough on our advisors, our volunteers and staff members when we have more people coming through the door than we can help.

"I think there are more and more issues and a lot of it is coming from the cost-of-living crisis."

Mr Westcott said people were "struggling to make ends meet".

"We are seeing that in more and more applications for benefits that people previously didn’t apply for or are now eligible for," he said.

Wailim Wong said the south west faced difficult challenges

Citizen’s Advice communications officer Wailim Wong said the south west had particular challenges.

He said: "We have the issues with low wages, seasonal work and high house prices, that’s what makes Devon and Cornwall a bit different from some other parts of the country.

"Employment opportunities through the year just aren’t there with higher paying jobs, people are still catching up from lockdown when they couldn’t work.

"A lot of it has to do with inflation as well, and the general economic conditions."

Helen Donnellan said its services were needed more now than ever before

Helen Donnellan, who has volunteered at CA in Okehampton and Tavistock for seven years, said the demand was unprecedented.

She said: "It just gets more and more, heavier and heavier and more complex cases.

"I think that means we are more and more needed and I think that it is reflected because there are so few places now where people can go to get free advice that can be trusted."

The charity has asked the public to be patient as it tackled the increase in demand and asked anyone who wanted to help as a volunteer to contact their local branch.