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News Benefits top residents’ concerns


ALMOST10,000 people with 41,000 enquiries sought help from Maidstone Citizens Advice Bureau in 2013/14.


The main issues related to bene-


fits (23%), relationship and family – primarily domestic violence – (15%), legal (14%), debt (13%), housing (13%) and employment (11%). The bureau, operating from


Bower Terrace, Maidstone Gateway and a monthly outreach service in Park Wood, Marden and Head- corn, succeeded in obtaining £154,706 for its clients while getting debts worth £116,780 written off. Atotal of 97% of clientswere sat-


isfied with the service – the other 3% did not respond. In his annual report, chairman Sir Michael Buckley said: “These are excellent figures and testimony to the hard work and skill of our staff, both paid and volunteer.” The bureau also offers home vis-


its to people who are ill or disabled. Maidstone CAB faced a signifi-


cant cut in its budget in 2013, due to the changes in funding by the Legal Aid Agency. In 2012/13, 36% of the bureau’s income came from the agency, which reduced to just 7% in 2013/14. The largest single source of fund-


ing is still Maidstone Council, which contributed £200,693 to the bureau’s total funding of £561,080 in the year. Chief executive Bonny Malhotra


told the annual meeting: “With all the changes within the benefits sys- tem, the withdrawal of legal aid and financial cutbacks, the work of the CAB has become even more complicated and competitive. “To attract addi-


BonnyMalhotra


tional funding we have to some ex- tent to re-invent and re-package a service that pre- dominantly exists to help those who


could not help themselves. “While our clients’ problems are becoming more complex and multi-faceted, providing a bespoke and holistic service is becoming more challenging.” During the year, volunteers for Maidstone CAB gave 47,556 hours of their time to the community. Technology has opened up a


whole new way of working for the bureau and, with the use of the iPad, partners and their clients are now able to receive “face-to-face” advice without having to travel to the bureau. The bureau is always keen to re-


cruit more volunteers and anyone interested should call Maria Mc- Farlane on 01622 750770 or email advice@maidstonecab.org.uk.


Advisers ‘making life safer in town’s prison’


INMATES at Maidstone Prison are being helped by a partnership be- tween the prison and the town’s Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Volunteers from the CAB visit


the prison – a hub for jailed foreign nationals – twice a week, offering advice to the inmates and the staff. As well as sending prisoners


back into the community with a re- duced chance of re-offending, their advice is also helping to save lives. Speaking at the bureau’s annual meeting Martin Finnan, custodial manager for resettlement at HMP Maidstone, said inmates’ issues were the sameas those ofpeople on the “outside”, with fears about debt, housing and finances. Between the start of the scheme


on April 1 this year andAugust 31, prison outreach workers Jo Woolla- cott and Richard Pellant visited the prison 176 times. Prisoners had learned to trust the volunteers, and uptake had “gone through the roof”, said Mr Finnan. “This is because of the integrity of the CAB staff,” he said. “We could fill their day, five days aweek.”


Maidstone Prison houses in-


mates from 39 countries and Mr Finnan said 35 clients had between them debt totalling £250,000. He said: “They worry about the effect the debt has on their families. “TheCABcan bring trust and in- dependent advice to the table that we do not have. They are doing a vital job at Maidstone Prison, not just for the prisoners but also for the staff and society as a whole.” MrFinnan said theCABadvisors


were also instrumental in helping reduce incidents of self-harming. “Stress and a sense of worthless- ness can cause people to self-harm and even die,” he said. “CAB is helping to achieve a safer environ- ment by helping people to solve their problems.” Mrs Woollacott admitted the in- troduction to prison work had been “a culture shock” but said: “The problems are exactly the same.” The prison outreach service was


made possible by grant funding from the John Paul Getty 2 Foun- dation, supplemented by funding from the prison itself.


Detached homes planned


Staff from South East Water’s customer service team with


community organisation Communigrow


Firm helps group to grow


STAFF from South EastWater swapped picking up phones for picking po- tatoes when they teamed up with Ditton-based community organisa- tion, Communigrow. Twelve customer service employees joined the group, which provides


fresh produce to low-income families, to harvest potatoes and sell home- grown fruit, vegetables and flowers at itsweekly market stall. A £2,200 donation fromSouth EastWater’s community chest fund


allowed Communigrow to maintain its plot of land, buy a vegetable cooling shed and start theweekly stall near the village church and school. But thewater staff decided to givemore than just a financial boost and took to the allotment in Ditton to pick half a tonne of spuds. The flurry of activity caught the interest of Ditton CE Junior School head


teacher BobWorth, who paid a visit to the stand. He said: “I expect the stall will be very popular with parents and pupils every Friday afternoon.” Laurence Snook, fromDitton, set up Communigrow to encourage low income families, unskilled young people and older generations to keep active and eat good-quality fresh food. He said: “The support fromSouth EastWater has meantwe have been able to continue, and even expand our project.”


NINE detached homes could be built at The Lodge in London Road, Allington. The scheme would include a shared open space and access from Beaver Road. A supporting statement says the


land is brownfield – partly an un- occupied house and garden – and borders further brownfield land to the south, where two separate planning permissions allow a total of 51 new homes on the site of stor- age buildings, a former transport and haulage yard and a carwash. The statement said: “The pro-


posed housing is two-storey on the northern, western and southern sides adjacent to the proposed housing and will sit well down in the site in relation to the surround- ing area. The remaining three three-storey buildings are adjacent to the Beaver Road boundary where they will be two-storey on the Beaver Road side and have less visual impact. “To the west the shared open


space allows for the planting of lo- cally native trees.” Maidstone Council will deter- mine the planning application.


Teenager charged with assault A 16-YEAR-old male will appear in court after a serious assault on a ticket inspector at Snodland railway station. British Transport Policewas called to the scene at 3.20pm after re-


ports of an assault at the station entrance.A27-year-old member of Southeastern staff was taken to Maidstone Hospital with cuts and bruises to his head and body. He was discharged after treatment. The teenager, said to be from the local area, was arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm later that day. He was released on conditional bail and was due to appear at Sevenoaks Youth Court on Thursday, November 13.


Formore local news - www.downsmail.co.uk Malling November 2014


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