Me mahi tahi tātou mō te oranga o te katoa/We should work together for the wellbeing of everyone.
There was a client who had been in our office for about an hour and she suddenly became agitated and apologised for taking so much of my time.
To be able to say, “your issue is my business today, we can work with you for as long as it takes to help you go forward.” On top of that I hoped she left feeling listened to. That sums up why I volunteer at CAB.
Where else can people just turn up with whatever issue is preoccupying them and get free, confidential and non-judgemental advice, where no one is clock watching or minimising the matter?
This comment from one of our volunteers captures the essence of our service.
CAB has been operating for more than 50 years in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here in Tāmaki Makaurau region we have 31 bureaux and about 900 trained volunteers. In 2019 we had just under 160,000 client interactions. On top of that, there are specialist clinics – at our branch we have a legal clinic and budget clinic as well as Justice of the Peace Service desk – all free!
We operate in local communities so our volunteers are also from those communities and have insight into the issues our clients face, whether in Grey Lynn, Papakura, Birkenhead or Massey.
Our volunteers are the backbone of the service, and we rely on funding from Auckland Council to provide this service throughout the region. In the draft 2023/2024 council budget it is proposed that funding to CAB in Auckland be cut radically.
We acknowledge the city budget is under pressure but in our view we help the council in a very effective and cost-efficient way to achieve one of its key responsibilities in the Local Government Act (section 3): to play a broad role in promoting the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of its community.
Without CAB, or with a reduced service, there would no doubt be a negative flow-on effect in our community. That applies regardless of the issue, whether it is about a neighbourhood dispute, a relationship matter, a tenancy matter or an employment issue. So, an arbitrary funding cut will leave a huge hole in our social support structure.
As our Auckland CAB chairperson Sylvia Hunt said recently in a Newsroom article: “There’s something called social return on investment and we certainly provide that.”
So if you support CAB’s future operation – even if you have not used our service yet - we ask that you do three things:
1. Sign the petition on Action Station our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/save-auckland-cabs
2. Contact your local body ward politician. Mike Lee for Waitematā - mikeleeauckland@gmail.com
3. Make a submission on the draft budget – these open on 28 February. (Lucette Hindin, Manager)
Citizens Advice Bureau Grey Lynn – Ponsonby Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Road, M: 021 175 9845
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