Nantwich Mayor Christine Farrall joined guest speaker Fiona Bruce MP to help celebrate 75 years of Cheshire East Citizens Advice Bureaux.
Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABx) first appeared in 1939, when more than 200 emergency centres were established throughout the UK and were all governed by a Central Committee in London.
The Crewe office was among the first to open.
Cllr Farrall said: “I was honoured to be invited to the Cheshire East CAB’s annual general meeting to celebrate the anniversary.
“Citizens Advice Bureaux have been at the heart of our communities for 75 years and I would like to thank all their volunteers, past, present and future for their contributions.
“Cheshire East CAB is an independent charity and it’s really important the service is able to continue to offer free independent and impartial advice, through a range of channels, so it’s available to everyone who needs it.”
When it first began, CAB volunteers ran the service working from public buildings and private houses.
Advisers dealt with problems such as loss of ration books, homelessness, evacuation, and locating missing relatives and prisoners of war. Debt quickly became a key issue as incomes reduced due to call-ups.
They also dealt with rather more light-hearted problems including a gentleman who had lost his false teeth, a struggling Argyll house-hunter claiming she was descended from the “King of Argyll” and a lady who wrote to see what could be done about her flock of rather loud geese.
Today’s Citizens Advice Bureaux delivers advice services from more than 3,400 community locations in England and Wales, run by 360 registered CAB charities.
The network relies on 22,200 trained volunteers to keep the service running.
For more information about Citizen Advice Bureau or for your local bureau visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk, or use the online advice guide at www.adviceguide.org.uk
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