Our history
Citizens Advice was set up in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War. Volunteer advisers, all over the country, helped with war time struggles such as homelessness, missing relatives, evacuation and lost ration books.
Citizens Advice was set up in 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War. Volunteer advisers, all over the country, helped with war time struggles such as homelessness, missing relatives, evacuation and lost ration books.
Over the next few decades Citizens Advice grew and grew, continuing to be a crucial service, as the country experienced a lack of housing, recessions and changes to the benefit system, with people able to drop in for advice in their local town’s bureau.
In 2019, Citizens Advice celebrated its 80th Birthday with a record 29 million visits to our online advice website. During the lock downs of the Coronavirus pandemic, the service continued to adapt to new challenges. By expanding the already established phone, webchat and digital advice services and reaching out to people of all age groups who may never have needed Citizens Advice before, more people were helped than ever.
Advisers working from a converted horse box in 1942
Maldon & District Citizens Advice
Maldon & District Citizens Advice (then known as CAB) opened its first office in 1985 in a demountable in the Butt Lane car park. A newspaper report at the time about its opening by MP John Wakeham, says that the main issues people were coming in about were benefits and housing. In 2022 that still reads true.
Following a long stay in Maldon’s St. Cedd’s House, now demolished, we moved into excellent accommodation in the District Council Offices in 2015. Although superficially much has changed over time, such as sourcing information using computers rather than from the old paper files, the underlying principles and need for the service are the same. It remains staffed by wonderful volunteers who really want to make life better for local residents, by giving them free, confidential, independent advice that can be relied on. With a growing team of staff and volunteers and an ever increasing breadth of services, we are ready for the next 80 years and the challenges they will undoubtedly bring!
What we do
Our volunteers and staff give high quality, independent, information and advice: over the phone; face to face or by email on a huge range of subjects.
