The Severn Trent Trust Fund (STTF) and Birmingham Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) held a launch event at Acocks Green Library today to celebrate the new project – Stay Afloat – developed to bring specialist water debt advice into the community. The event was hosted by Birmingham CAB CEO Janice Nichols with MP for Yardley Jess Phillips as special guest.
During the course of the year more than 600 people are expected to benefit from the Stay Afloat services. “The work of the project and the GBAS partners is vital,” says Gay Hammett, Community Grant Manager at Auriga Services, who manage Severn Trent Trust Fund. “There is a huge rise in people needing help since welfare reform changes were introduced and there are fewer agencies who are able to provide that help”.
Advice via the service is available to anyone either via one of the GBAS partners, or directly via drop-in-sessions being held in six libraries across the city. These include; Kings Heath, Small Heath, Druids Heath, Acocks Green, Birchfield and Handsworth libraries.
Chris Green, Specialist Caseworker at Birmingham CAB comments, “Taking the advice into the community and locating the surgeries in the local library has proved to work really well. We are accessible and approachable, making it easy for people to seek the help they need.”
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